


If I fall for someone, then sure

by uswnt3



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Football | Soccer, Surfing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-11
Updated: 2016-08-29
Packaged: 2018-07-22 21:55:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7455286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uswnt3/pseuds/uswnt3
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Christen Press is tired of guys, mainly her ex boyfriend Nick, so she tells herself that she doesn't want to fall for someone or be in a relationship with anyone for a long time. However, being around a certain dirty blonde hair girl, confuses her and changes everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Everyone's crazy for you

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is my first ever fic i've wrote! I'm not sure how many chapters it'll be, but i hope the first one is a good one! Would appreciate some comments so i know how i'm doing so feel free to write up your opinion in the comment section! Enjoy :)

Everyone’s Crazy For You

Christen gets cheers and whistles from a bunch of jocks when she pulled a crazy knuckle ball shot sending the keeper to the wrong direction during practice. She rolls her eyes at them, shaking her head.

“Miss Popular back at it again,” Kelley teased. “Tell me again why you are single when you literally have everyone after you?”

Christen receives the ball back from the keeper, passing it to Kelley hard. “Because I’m not into douche bags.”

“Well it doesn’t have to be them. I mean everyone is crazy for you. You just need to pick who you want, they’ll be head over heels for you,” Kelley smirked as she crossed her arms.

Christen pushes Kelley as she walks back into her position.

 

After practice, Kelley, Ali and Christen hangs around awhile chatting about how boring their lives are. Just then, the same bunch of jocks came flocking in.

“Hey Christen, we’re having a party tonight. Wanna come?” Nick, the football captain and ex-boyfriend, said smirking.

Ali and Kelley laughs upon hearing this. Christen ignores him, acting as if she didn’t hear anything and packing up her bag.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that. You know you want this,” the jock said as he flex his muscles.

Christen raised at her eyebrows and smiles. “I’ve seen girls with muscles more defined than that. And even if you did had big toned muscles, it would still not be enough to match your cocky attitude.”

Nick was the first guy Christen dated at Stanford and the 3rd guy she's ever dated. Both her ex before Nick were football players as well, and were also egoistic like him. After every break up, she tells herself that she's not going to fall for another football quarterback. But these guys being sweet as hell at the start of their meeting process, Christen just can't help herself. However, this break up was different. Christen knew she was done with guys like them and promised herself that there's no way she's going to waste her time this way again. And this time, she really follows along with this promise to herself as she’s been single for the last 7 months.

At this point Kelley and Ali could not control their laughter anymore, clapping their hands and high fiving each other. Even the jocks were laughing at Christen’s come back leaving Nick embarrassed.

“Okay boys, I think it’s clear she’s not interested. So if you could, maybe just leave them alone,” a blonde haired girl said pushing between the boys and standing in front of them with her arms crossed.

Nick glared at the blonde girl, looking her up and down before rolling his eyes and walking away with his pack.

“We can handle them Ash,” Kelley said as she got up and did their typical handshake.

“I know, it’s just annoying how these jerks thinks they can get any girl they want. Hey Christen.” Ashlyn then looked over to Ali who was also looking straight at her. Her face flushed with red as she smiles at her. “Hi Ali.”

“Urm, hey,” Ali said quietly as she turns away from Ashlyn, trying to hide her face.

Kelley scoffed at Ali and shakes her head. “Come on, let’s go. We have 30 minutes to get there or we’ll be screwed dude.”

“Oh fuck. Whatever, we’re still gonna be late.” Ashlyn said, looking at her watch. “Want a ride Christen?”

“Yeah, thanks that’ll be great. My shift starts in an hour too,” Christen said, swinging her bag over her shoulders.

Ashlyn and Kelley works part time at a shop called ‘Wheels or Non’ by New Brighton State Beach which is not too near but not too far from campus, selling surfboards, rash guards, board shorts and almost anything to do with surfing or skating. Christen doesn’t work at the same place but she works at a book store opposite their shop. They never understood why Christen has a part time job when her family is really loaded. Christen reasons that she wants to earn her own money and not really depend on her family’s wealth. And it kills time as well.

Ali stands up and hugs both Kelley and Christen. “Have fun at work guys. I’ll see you back at the dorm later though I’ll probably be asleep by then.”

She then looks over at Ashlyn. Ashlyn spreads her arms open and smiles. Ali laughs and walks slowly towards her, giving her a short hug before pulling away. “You have fun too.” Ashlyn bit her lip, doing her best to control herself from smiling. Ali waves a goodbye before disappearing from their sight as the three of them walks towards Ashlyn’s black Range Rover.

“Real smooth Ashlyn,” Christen said getting in the back seat.

Ashlyn shoots her a confused look as she took off her snapback and turning the engine on. Kelley glances over at Christen then to Ashlyn and chuckled. “What?” Ashlyn asked as she shift the gear to drive.

“When are you going to make a move? When we’re 30?” Kelley asked.

“Make a move? I have no idea what you guys are talking about.”

Kelley looks over at the back seat and both her and Christen re-enact whatever that happened between Ali and Ashlyn, exaggerating almost every action then laughing uncontrollably after they’re done.

“Real mature guys. Real mature,” Ashlyn said, pulling her hair forward to hide her red cheeks.

For the rest of the trip to their work, that’s all they did. Teasing Ashlyn about her not so secret crush on Ali. Ashlyn met Ali for the first time when Ali came by to ‘Wheels or Non’ to pick Kelley up. And since that day, Ashlyn could not stop thinking about Ali. Must have been her smile, she thought to herself. Ashlyn would take every opportunity she could to pick Kelley up from school or dorm just to see Ali, even if it was just for 2 seconds. Ashlyn could have had the worst day ever but a little bit of Ali would literally turned the whole day around.

 

Little does she know that Ali feels the same way.

 

They dropped Christen off first before parking the car right in front of ‘Wheels or Non’ and strolling into the shop. As they entered the shop, Cake by the Ocean was blasting on the stereo. Luckily for them, there wasn’t any customers. Kelley went to the back room to store their bag packs there before heading out while Ashlyn tendered to the cash register.

“Hey dude,” Kelley greeted to her colleague sitting at the back room.

“Wow, I’m impressed. You’re on time.”

“And you couldn’t be more sarcastic. Where’s lady boss?” Kelley asked as she pulled the dirty blonde hair girl in for a hug.

“She left early. Luck is really on your side today. Or maybe I should, you know, just open this big mouth of mine.”

Kelley pouts. “Come on Tobin, Ashlyn and I are here now aren’t we?”

Tobin laughs and slaps Kelley’s right arm, before walking out of the back room.

“Dude!” Ashlyn shouted as she did her handshake with Tobin, greeting her with a wide smile.

“You sound a little bit too excited today. Something happened with Miss A?” Tobin teased, as she sort out the rack of rash guards.

“Obviously. Why else would she be happy then?” Kelley teased as she came out of the back room. Ashlyn rolls her eyes as she started counting the cash. Tobin and Kelley laughed and fist bumped each other.

“At least I do have an eye on someone. How about you Tobin? Or Kelley, how are you and Hope?” Ashlyn asked as she crossed her arms.

Hope was 2 years older than Kelley and was a senior at her high school. Kelley has had the biggest crush on Hope since forever and honestly, Hope definitely had a bigger crush on Kelley than what Kelley has for her. Things has been difficult for them however, considering that Kelley is at Stanford and Hope is at University of Washington. But after going on a few dates with Hope, Kelley never wanted anyone else so she works hard to ensure that their relationship, whatever it is, works.

“We’re actually doing pretty well Ashlyn, thanks for asking though,” Kelley grinned as wide as she can.

“Wow you’re annoying. Okay how about you, Tobin?”

“I’m not really after relationships at the moment.”

“Yeah, well you’ve been saying that since your last break up. Which was a year ago.”

Tobin laughs and nods her head in agreement. “I mean if I fall for someone, then sure. If I don’t then I’m not going to go hunting for one. I’m fine on my own.”

“You worry me sometimes,” Kelley protests, gaining laughters from both her best friends. “Does she still bother you though?”

“Who? Shirley?”

Kelley raises her eyebrows, giving her the look of ‘who else then’. Tobin smiles and nods. She takes out her phone from her back pocket and toss it to Kelley. “She calls me every single day dude. And sends like, what, at least 5 texts every day? It’s driving me crazy.”

Ashlyn looks over Kelley’s shoulder, peeking to see the phone. “Damn, she really needs to get a life.”

Tobin and Shirley had a great relationship that lasted for a year and a half. Tobin loved Shirley like crazy, well until she caught her cheating. Tobin was overseas for 2 weeks with her family and she gave the keys to her apartment to Shirley while she was gone. Tobin and her family got home 2 days earlier than planned so she decided to surprise Shirley. Shirley surprised her instead. Tobin walked into Shirley making out with another girl, in her own home. Tobin told Shirley right on the spot that it was over and left. Shirley never went after her though. Tobin could not stand being in Portland, so she went over to Orlando and stayed with her bestfriend, Alex. Tobin was devastated for months and could never return back to her apartment without remembering what happened, so she sold her apartment and bought a beach house at California. She found a job at ‘Wheels or non’ where she met Kelley and Ashlyn and was finally able to move on from Shirley, though Shirley still calls her up.

“Should I change my number?” Tobin asked, adjusting her snapback.

Kelley nodded but Ashlyn shake her head. “So yes or no?”

“Nope, I don’t really think it’s a big deal. She’ll get over it,” Ashley explained.

Kelley chuckled. “It’s been a year.”

“I tell you what. I’ll change my number when you ask Ali out. How about that?” Tobin smirked.

“Well then, you better get a new number ready. Because the stud,” Ashlyn stands on the glass cabinet and points to herself, “is definitely taking Ali out soon.”

Just then, the door opens and a customer walks in, staring at Ashlyn. “Oh shit. Welcome.” Ashlyn quickly jumps down and slaps her forehead.

“Yup, definitely a stud,” Kelley laughs. “I got this.” She said, walking to the customer.

Tobin turns her direction away from Ashlyn to face towards the door and looks out the glass window. At that very moment, Christen walks out of her store, catching the eyes of Tobin’s. Tobin sits on the stool and leans back, folding her arms and admiring the view she has.

 

For the past few months that Tobin has worked at ‘Wheels or non’, she has only seen Christen a couple of times walking in and out of the book store. But she makes sure that every time she sees her, she appreciates the presence of the beautiful girl. And she can’t help but smiles whenever she sees her. Tobin, however, makes sure that neither of her best friends slash colleagues knows about this or they’ll push her to get into Christen’s pants. And getting into a relationship or anything dating is definitely something that she wants to avoid at the moment.

 

It was 9.30pm which means it’s closing time for 'Wheels or Non'. The shop doesn’t normally close at 9.30pm on a Friday night but there doesn’t seem to be any customers coming in, so Tobin decided to close the shop early. Closing early also means that she can take her time counting the money and restocking the clothes. Ashlyn and Kelley left work early since they had morning training the next morning. Tobin, being the angel that she is, lets them off easily. Besides there wasn’t much to do during closing anyways, so she didn’t actually mind. She also got to jam to her favourite songs on her own for a while.

Tobin was humming to the song, Elastic Heart by Sia, playing on the stereo as she counted the cash. Just as she was finishing up counting the money, the main store door opened. “Sorry, we’re-“ Tobin looks up and pauses a while before continuing, “close.” She looks up to a bronze, tanned girl, smiling as her eyes crinkled, and standing by the door.


	2. You’re the girl who works at the book store right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had this written out already so I decided to spoil you guys abit ;) hope you enjoyed! leave me comments and feedbacks guys! thank you so much!

You’re the girl who works at the book store right?

Tobin stares at the girl as she gets closer and closer to her. “Sorry, I was just looking for a couple of my friends? They work here.”

Tobin’s eyes widens at the mention of ‘friends’. “Kelley and Ashlyn?”

“Yeah,” she said, smiling.

Tobin feels her cheeks heat up and getting red as ever. “They left actually. About an hour ago?”

“Great. They told me to come over here once I was done with work and that we’ll go back to campus together.”

Tobin laughs, “Guess they forgot.”

“Probably. Thanks anyways, I’ll get going first,” the tanned girl said, walking away.

When she was about the open the door, Tobin called after her. “Hey, what’s your name?”

“Christen. Christen Press,” she said as she turns back to Tobin.

“Christen,” Tobin nods and thought to herself. “Listen, I can drive you back to campus if you need a ride. Getting a cab at this timing is probably gonna cost you a bit.” Tobin finally said, gathering all the courage she had left.

Christen smiles and nods.

“Cool. You can just chill over there first, I’ll be done in a few minutes,” Tobin said as she pointed to the couch near by the fitting room.

Tobin finishes up the work up front and went to the back room to collect her penny board and bag pack. She pulls out her Victoria Secret perfume from her bag and sprayed it all over herself, making sure she didn’t miss a spot. She then adjusted her snapback so that the visor of the snapback is at the back. She lifted her bag over her right shoulder, carrying the penny board in the same hand and lets out a deep breath before walking out of the back room

“You ready?” Tobin asked.

Christen looks up from her phone and nods. Tobin smiles slightly, biting her lips and led Christen out the door, locking it behind her. They walked in silence to Tobin’s Mini Cooper. They didn’t have to walk that far since her car was parked pretty near to the shop. She unlocks the car and opens her car boot to put her stuff in it.

“Do I sit at the back?” Christen asked innocently.

Tobin laughs hearing the question. “Am I an Uber?”

Christen laughs at Tobin’s funny question. “That’s not what I meant.”

Tobin smiles, nodding at Christen reassuring her that she knows it was a joke. She then opened the door for Christen to get into the seat next to the driver seat and closes it once Christen got in. She took her time to walk over to her side of the car, wiping her sweaty palms on her black denim jeans. “I’m just driving her back to campus. Calm down, Tobin Heath,” she said to herself.

As soon as she got into the car, she turned up the A/C as she could feel herself sweating out of nervousness. Just when she was almost calm, Christen shoot her a question. “So, I didn’t catch your name earlier on.” Tobin clears her throat but looks straight at Christen, giving her the look ‘seriously?’ when Christen asked, “So what’s the name of my Uber Driver?”

Christen can’t help but giggled when Tobin gave her that look. “You know I can just tell you to get out of my car.” Upon hearing this, Christen burst out in laughter and Tobin just smiles.

“I’m Tobin. Tobin Heath,” Tobin said as she pulls out from the parking lot, driving towards campus.

“It’s nice to meet you, Tobin,” Christen said as she offered to shake hands with Tobin. Tobin wanted to avoid it if possible, so that Christen did not have to hold her clammy hands. But she shake Christen’s hand anyways.

Christen smiles and pulls her hands away, crossing her arms. They drove in silence for half the trip, before Tobin broke it. “You’re the girl who works at the book store right? Opposite ‘Wheels or Non’?”

“Yup. How’d you know?”

“I’ve seen you a couple of times, walking in and out of the store. I thought you were just an avid reader who buys too much books ever so often, until I saw you signed some kind of paper the delivery man handed to you,” Tobin teased.

“There’s never too much books. You’ll be surprised at how fast I can read books,” Christen said proudly.

“You’re from Stanford. I don’t think that could surprise me.”

Christen hisses at Tobin causing Tobin to smile. “How about you then? How long have you been working at that surfer shop of yours?”

“A couple of months actually. Kelley and Ashlyn never mentioned me to you before?”

Christen shakes her head. “Funny how I never seen you before. You must have never caught my eye.” Christen teases.

“Ouch.” Tobin said as she placed her right hand on her heart.

Christen laughs and they stay silent again for the rest of the trip. Every now and then, Christen glances over to Tobin. And she thoughts to herself that she must be crazy to have never seen or notice Tobin. Tobin has the brightest smile she’s ever seen, a jawline as sharp as a knife and beautiful long hair as soft as silk. She admires Tobin every chance she gets and blushes when Tobin caught her looking once.

Arriving on campus, Tobin parked her car by a driveway near Christen’s dorm and walked up with her to her dorm. Christen told her it was fine but Tobin insisted on walking her to the door anyways. At the door, Christen looked for her keys in her bag and when she pulls it out, she drops the keys. Both she and Tobin bend down to get the keys, causing their heads to bump into each other and leaving the keys on the cold ground. They laughed as they both rub their own head.

“Are you okay?” Tobin asked as she grin.

“Yeah but it’s going to hurt tomorrow,” Christen laughs.

Tobin smiles and bends to get the keys for her. She hands it over to Christen and their fingers brush against each other, causing Tobin to quickly pull away before she gets all red again. Just as Christen was about to unlock the door, it opened.

“Oh my god, Christen. I am so sorry,” Kelley said as she places her right hand over her mouth.

“No worries. I like being forgotten,” Christen said sarcastically.

Kelley can’t help but laugh. “Tobin? Why are you here?”

“To drop me off. You know because a bunch of my idiotic friends decided to leave me hanging.”

Ali then popped up from the back and pulled Christen in. “Don’t worry, I’m here for you. We don’t need Kelley.”

Tobin smiles and waves at Ali when Ali appeared and Ali did the same thing. “Thanks for dropping her off, Tobin.”

“Yeah no problem. See you guys soon,” Tobin said as she walks away.

Once Kelley and Ali went into their own rooms, Christen opens the door again and waits by the ledge to see Tobin off. She leans her forearms on the ledge. When Tobin appeared, walking towards her car, Christen smiles to herself. As Tobin opened her car door, she looks at the dorm and sees that Christen is standing there, looking down at her. She smiles and waves back at Christen and asked her to go back inside. Christen shakes her head and tries to explain however way she can that she won’t go in till Tobin leaves. Fortunately, Tobin understood and gave her one last smile before getting into the car and drove away.

Christen then walked back into her dorm, locking the door behind her. When she turns around, she jumps out of surprise. Ali and Kelley both stood in front of her, arms crossed, staring right at her. “Why are you staring at me?”

Ali and Kelley turned to each other before looking back at Christen, smirking. “So sweet of you to watch her drive off,” Ali teased.

Christen rolls her eyes and walks towards the direction of her room. “She sent me all the way here, when someone ditched me. That’s the least I could do.”

“Really?” Kelley asked raising her eyebrows.

“Oh my god. What are you guys thinking? I am as straight as a ruler, I was just being nice.”

“A ruler can be bended though,” Ali smirks.

Christen shakes her head and waves her finger around. “I’m not that easy.”

“Okay but for someone like Tobin, the straightest girl on the planet could change teams. Heck, even a gay man could turn straight for her,” Kelley said and Ali nods in agreement. “Plus she is single.”

‘She is single’. Hearing this gives Christen the butterflies and she feels her heart skips a beat. Something about Tobin being single made her feel all sorts of feelings that she’s not supposed to be feeling.

“Goodnight guys,” Christen said as she closes her room door behind her.

 

_**Kelley:** So sweet of you to send her back Tobin ;)_

Kelley teased Tobin in the group chat that she, Ashlyn, Tobin and Alex were in. Kelley lies down on her bed, all snuggled with her favourite pillow, waiting for a reply from any of them. Didn’t take long before a couple of messages came through her phone though. She laughs as she opens the group chat.

_**Ashlyn:** girl? What girl? _

_**Alex:** WHAT GIRL? TOBIN WHAT GIRL ARE YOU ON ABOUT_

_**Ashlyn:** dude don’t you dare ignore us. I will literally get my ass over your house right now if you don’t reply in 3 seconds_

_**Ashlyn:** 3_

_**Ashlyn:** 2_

_**Ashlyn:** 1 _

_**Alex:** excuse me tobin, care to reply???_

_**Ashlyn:** time is up heath_

_**Kelley :** Lol, calm down guys she’s probably still driving. And dear Christen watched as she drove away, how sweet :’)_

_**Alex:** Who the fuck is Christen_

Tobin was driving home when her phone keeps buzzing off. Since it wasn’t on silent, the song she’s playing would often get cut because of all the texts she’s getting. Frustrated, Tobin parked by the side of the road and check her phone to see what was going on. “Oh my god, Kelley,” Tobin said to herself when she saw that it was her group chat blowing up. She switches her phone to silent mode and drove back home slowly, jamming to the music on her favourite playlist. Now and then as she was driving, she would smile to herself thinking about how just a few moments ago, Christen Press was sitting beside her.

Kelley, on the other hand, waits up till late for a text from her favourite girl. Kelley decided to watch a couple of videos on Youtube to kill time. As she was on her 3rd video, she receives a text from Hope. It didn’t take her even one second to open the text.

_**Hope:** Please tell me you’re up. _

Kelley smiles and calls Hope instantly. “Hey, oh my god I miss you like crazy,” Hope said as soon as she picked up her phone.

“Says the busy one. At least you were occupied with school work. I had nothing to do to get my mind off of you,” Kelley complained.

“I said I miss you.”

“I miss you too,” Kelley said quietly.

Both of them stayed silent for a while, hearing each other breathe. It’s been 2 months since they met and all Kelley wants to do is hug Hope like there’s no tomorrow. Exams and school work were both getting to them and it was difficult for them to meet. There were lucky if they even had time to skype or facetime each other.

Hope tried to control herself from crying too loudly or sob loud enough for Kelley to hear but Kelley isn’t stupid. She knows that whenever Hope’s being all quiet, she’s just trying to control her tears. “Please don’t cry. Every time you cry, the only thing I want to do is be there for you and hug you,” Kelley said. And Hope stays quiet again. Kelley lets out a loud sigh as she rubs her temples.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys enjoyed my fanfic so far, it's my first. Also, go over to my Youtube channel (USWNT 3) and check out my videos! I made a few preath videos :) thanks guys!


	3. Surprise?

Christen gets up early to do some yoga and meditating before she heads to morning practice, a routine of hers. As she walks out of her room, she drops her yoga mat in shocked. “What are you doing?”

“That’s a way to greet someone. Morning Christen,” Kelley said in a mono-tone voice.

“You look. Really bad. Are you okay?” Christen asked as she walks towards her best friend. Kelley nods and looks away.

“It’s 6 in the morning, you’re never up this early,” Christen said as she pushes a few hair strands of Kelley’s off of her face. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing. I just miss her.”

“Did you sleep at all last night? You honestly look worse than a panda right now.” Kelley shakes her head and leans it on the counter.

Christen went over to the coffee machines and poured a cup of coffee for both her and Kelley. She hands a cup to Kelley and then went on to pull out some eggs from the fridge. “You don’t have to. Just go do your flexible, close eyes thingy.” Kelley said as she took a sip of coffee.

“It’s called yoga. And no, you barely slept. You really need some breakfast to get yourself moving a bit. Plus we have practice in like 2 hours. So go freshen up and breakfast will be ready once you’re done. Okay?” Christen said as she continued to pulled out all the other ingredients she needs to make the perfect breakfast.

Kelley mumbled to herself before getting up to go and shower. As soon as Kelley left, Christen pulled out her phone to send a text.

_**Christen:** Are you at the airport already???_

Christen sets her phone to the side as she cracks some eggs into a mixing bowl. She was going to make French toast for breakfast, Kelley’s favourite. Just then, her phone vibrated. She looks at the text and replies instantly.

_**Hope:** Of course! I’m actually getting on the flight right now. I’ll see you later Christen!! Omg I’m so excited!_

_**Christen:** I am too!! See you later babe_

 

Morning practice lasted for 2 hours and it ends with sprints across the field, lengthwise for 10 minutes with a minute rest in between each sprints. Kelley had no problem with the sprints, being the fittest on the team. Even without sleep, she could sprint for hours and would still be up and running the moment the coach calls them up to the lines. As the team was walking back to the benches where they placed their bags, Kelley sees a familiar figure standing not far off from those benches. She thought it was Hope but nope, must be seeing things, she told herself. As she walks closer and her view of that familiar person becomes clearer, her eyes widens and her jaw drops.

“That’s a way to greet someone,” Christen teased as she walks pass her.

Kelley quickens her pace to the familiar person with her arms wide open and as soon as she was close enough, she pulls her in for a long tight hug. “I can’t believe you’re here. You should have called me, Hope.”

“And I can’t believe I’m letting you hug me you know, with all your sweat and glory. Also, telling you would have spoiled the surprise,” Hope said as she tightens the hug.

Kelley pulls away, taking in the reality that Hope is actually there, standing right in front of her.

“Surprise?”

Kelley smiles and kisses Hope on the cheeks, before pulling her in for another hug. Kelley then walks over to her team and introduce Hope to everyone, emphasizing on the words ‘my dream girl’. Hope gets flustered over the words Kelley chooses to use when introducing her to Kelley’s teammates. The team cheers for them both and Kelley just bows, being proud of herself for having such a hot girl with her. She then walks over to Ali. “Hey Ali, could you help me tell Ash that I won’t be coming to work today?”

Ali eyes widens at her suggestion. “Me?! No way. You can tell Christen to do it.”

“Nope. My phone’s turned off for the rest of the day and I have no work today either.”

“You’re killing me Kelley. I’m not going to do it,” Ali said as she folds her arms and frowns.

Hope laughs and takes this advantage to tease Ali. “Oh is someone shy?”

Ali gave her a sarcastic smile before looking over to Kelley and shaking her head.

“Fine then I’ll have Ashlyn text you,” Kelley smirks. “Either way you’re both going to text or better, talk on the phone.”

Ali then rolls her eyes and hands her phone to Kelley, giving in to texting Ashlyn. Kelley smirks after giving her phone back and walks away with Hope. Ali then picked her bag up and walks with Christen to their dorm.

After both Christen and Ali showered, they gathered in the living room to watch Conjuring 2. Christen was, as usual, scared so easily by every little scene. Ali, however, was a bit distracted and could not focus on the movie though she too is a scaredy cat. Christen notices this and nudges Ali’s foot with her own. “You look really distracted.”

“Mmm? Yeah, no I’m not,” Ali said as she fiddled with her phone.

“Oh I know. You’re nervous cause you have to text Ashlyn,” Christen smirks. Ali rolls her eyes at her. “Fine, I won’t tease you. But really Ali, it’s just a text.”

“But it’s Ashlyn.”

“AKA, your secret crush?”

Ali nods in embarrassment.

“Don’t worry too much about it. Just text her like you would with us. But maybe not too much like you would with us,” Christen laughs. “Just do it Ali.”

Ali nods and types out a message, which she check countless of times before Christen pushes her to send it.

_**Ali:** Hey, Ali here. Kelley told me to tell you that she’s not turning in for work today. Her girlfriend’s in town so she’s getting busy lol_

After sending the message, Ali throws her phone across the couch to Christen, telling Christen to keep it with her unless she receives a text from Ashlyn. Didn’t take long though. As soon as Ali’s phone lights up, Christen lifts it and waves it in front of Ali’s face. Ali grabs it and lets out a heavy sigh before opening the text.

False alarm.

It was her mother. Ali stares at Christen and Christen laughs stomping her feet on Ali’s. Just then Ali’s phone vibrates and she looks at her phone before looking at Christen, eyes wide open.

“Open it!” Christen said as she sat up.

_**Ashlyn:** Oh hi Ali :) haha well shit looks like it’s just me and tobin today. Alright, thanks for telling me _

Just that simple text, still Ali and Christen fangirled like as if they received a text from Messi.

On the other side with Ashlyn and Tobin, however, well it’s actually no different. They too get excited the moment they saw that Ali texted Ashlyn first. Which in their mind, Ali obviously liked Ashlyn more than Ashlyn liked her and it was a big thing. Immature, yeah, but it was definitely progress in their so called ‘relationship’.

It’s been over an hour since Ashlyn received her first ever text from Ali and she still feels all the fuzzy feeling in her stomach and she can’t stop smiling. “Dude, is it normal to feel this way?”

Tobin laughs and steps off the penny board she was riding all around the shop. “I guess?” She then remembers what happened last night with Christen and she too, feels all warm and fuzzy inside her. She steps on to the penny board again, riding away from Ashlyn before she gets caught blushing and smiling to herself. Just then, 2 customers walks in and Ashlyn signals to Tobin to get behind the cashier while she tends to the customers. Tobin stands behind the cashier and arranges the keychain while waiting for the customers, if they did buy something. She then looks over to the book store across the street, only to be disappointed every time she looks over looking for someone familiar. She was in deep thoughts about Christen before Ashlyn gently taps the glass cabinet to get Tobin’s attention. Tobin and Ashlyn settled the payment for the customers and one of the girls winked at Tobin as she walked away.

Ashlyn waits to see a reaction from Tobin, but there was none. “Tobin, that girl was hot. Why didn’t you go after her?”

“Huh what? What girl?”

Ashlyn raises her eyebrows. “Seriously? One of those girls literally winked at you. Did you not see it?”

“Oh yeah, I saw it. So?” Tobin asked.

“You’re hot. No, don’t flatter yourself. She’s hot. You’re single. She’s probably single. Why didn’t you go after her?” Ashlyn asked, putting her left arm over Tobin’s shoulders.

Tobin shakes her head, “I told you I’m not going after anyone or force myself to fall for anyone.” She then looks over across the street and smiles to herself. “I’ll just let it happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's kind of short, I know! But the next few chapters will be longer and more preath, i promise :) hope you're enjoying the fic so far!


	4. So. So.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There isn't much Preath in this chapter, more of Krashlyn but I hope you don't mind! Hope you've been enjoying the fic and do leave some positive comments for me ;) thanks guys!

It was windy Sunday afternoon and Kelley, Ashlyn and Tobin had planned to go surfing since they had no school and all 3 of them had off days. They would have met up at Tobin’s beach house, since her place was nearest to the beach. But Hope was coming along as well, so Tobin offered to pick them up back at Kelley’s dorm.

Tobin knocked on the hard wooden door 3 times, not too loud but loud enough for someone to hear and open the door for her. It took some time for someone to get to the door so she turned around, leaning over the ledge and breathes in the fresh air. Just then the door cracks open and Tobin turns. Much to her delight, it was exactly the person she hoped for standing at the door. “Hi Christen.”

“Hi Tobin,” Christen said, gushing over how hot Tobin looks with her long-sleeved maroon rash guard and plain black board shorts.

Tobin rubs the back of her neck, smiling to Christen. “Urm, how are you? Good?”

Christen smiles and nods.

“Is Kelley here? Or Hope?”

“Oh yeah, they’ll be right out.”

They stood in silence, just smiling at each other before Christen offered to come inside the dorm to wait for the couple to get ready. Tobin politely rejects as she sees Kelley and Hope walking towards them.

“Hey Hope, it’s been quite a while huh?” Tobin greeted Hope.

“Definitely,” Hope smiled and gave Tobin a quick hug.

Kelley was the last out of the two to get out of the dorm. “You sure you don’t want to come Christen? Ali’s coming over later, so you’ll probably be alone for the rest of the day.”

“Its fine, got some homework to catch up on anyways,” Christen said as she looks over to Tobin. Tobin hoped for a different answer though.

“Okay then, see you later Chris. Don’t miss us too much!” Kelley said as she held Hope’s hands and walks away, waving goodbye.

Tobin lingered awhile at the back so that she could moon over Christen a little more. “You sure you don’t want to come? There’s space in the jeep. In the boot though, if you don’t mind,” Tobin joked.

Christen smiles. “Ha ha very funny Tobin. Thanks for the offer though.”

“I was kidding. Well, okay, I’ll get going then.”

Christen nods and waves.

Tobin smiles and walks away taking her time, looking back once more to find that Christen was still looking at her. She waves one last time before disappearing from Christen’s sight.

Tobin was the last one to get to the jeep. She climbed in and switched the engine on. Being the last one in the jeep, she got a couple of stares from the rest of the three. Tobin noticed it and looks at each and every one of their faces. “What?”

“That took you awhile,” Hope said.

“Did you like hug her? Or kiss her even?” Kelley teased.

“I totally forgot about that sending her home thing. But now that it’s fresh back into my memory again, care to share what happened when you sent her home?” Ashlyn teased as well.

Tobin sighs and shifts her gear to drive.

“Oh my god! It’s that why you weren’t giving that hot girl any attention?!” Ashlyn shouted.

“What hot girl?” Hope asked.

“Some girl came by our store yesterday and she was so into Tobin. She even gave her, 'the wink'.”

Hope and Kelley gasped at this point and stared at Tobin.

“A hot girl winks at you, and you don’t give in?!” Hope asked, surprised.

“I would so ask for a number if a hot girl winked at me,” Kelley said, earning her a pinch on her thighs from Hope. “I mean if I didn’t have Hope.”

Hope smiles, satisfied with what Kelley said. Kelley smirks and kisses her on the cheeks.

As Tobin starts driving, she asked a question she’s dying to know, clearing her throat first and preparing for all the annoyance that’s going to come. “How come none of you ever mentioned Christen?”

To this question, Kelley and Ashlyn looks at each other and smirks. Kelley raises her eyebrows, signalling Ashlyn to tease Tobin at her very best. Ashlyn nudged Tobin’s shoulders. “Is someone interested?”

Tobin rolls her eyes and brakes all of a sudden, causing the three other girls to slam forward.

“What the fuck dude?”

“Yeah, expect more of that if you choose to be immature,” Tobin grinned as she accelerates.

“As if that ever stop us,” Kelley whispered into Tobin’s ears.

Tobin shakes her head and ignored all their comments and teasing the whole drive to her beach house. She wonders to herself, how on earth was she able to tolerate their non-stop teasing and comments. Ashlyn was the main culprit though, so Tobin told herself that once they met up with Ali, she’s definitely not letting Ashlyn off that easily.

Walking on the soft sand, they see Ali sitting by the shore with her surfboard, waiting for them. “Hey Ali!” Kelley called out, running towards her with Hope. Ali laughs and waves back to them.

Seems like Ali had a feel of the waves on her own first before they arrived. Her hair was already dripping wet and so was her entire rash guard suit. Ashlyn walks slowly towards Ali, baby steps at a time, with Tobin by her side. She then turns to Tobin and whispers. “I swear I think my heart just stopped.”

Tobin chuckled and teased her, “Good. Then I’ll have her all to myself.” At this point, Ashlyn stops at her tracks and stares as Tobin had a big grin on her face. “That was so not funny.”

Tobin and Ashlyn looks over to Ali again and this time Ali was smiling at them, particularly Ashlyn. She wave her hand calling them to hurry over. Tobin gave Ali a quick hug and Ashlyn gave Ali a tight hug, causing Ali to laugh. Tobin smiles at that sight and shakes her head. “So, ready to crash some waves?” Tobin asked as she carries her board.

“Hell yeah!” Hope shouted and all five of them ran into the ocean. They could see a tidal wave coming and they got ready to rock those waves. They surfed all afternoon, right until before the sun sets. It’s been awhile since they surfed so they try to do as much as they can, ignoring the fact that they had school and work the next day. All they wanted was to enjoy being in the cold water and enjoying each other’s presence.

Ali got tired at one point so she just sat on her board, paddling her feet, watching the rest of them fall off their boards every time they attempt to crash a huge wave. Ashlyn then paddles towards her and sat on her own board. “You okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. Just got a little tired,” Ali said as she gave Ashlyn a reassuring smile. “And you?”

“Oh I’m good. You just looked a little lonely so I decided to accompany you for a while I guess.”

Ali blushed and looks down at her board to avoid eye contact.

Ashlyn looks over and smiles to herself as she sees Ali blushing. “So.”

“So.”

“I’ve actually thought about this a lot. Like a lot,” Ali then looks over at Ashlyn, who’s trying to get her words out. She smiles and stretches out to hold Ashlyn’s left hand. “Thought about what?”

“Do you want to like go out sometime? Maybe this coming Friday?” Ashlyn asks, her voice shaking.

Ali folds her arms and asks, “Is Ashlyn Harris asking me out? On a date possibly?”

Ashlyn smiles slightly and rubs her left arm with right hand. Sensing the nervousness, Ali smiles and grabs Ashlyn’s hand. Ashlyn looks up to Ali to her eyes and Ali nods. “I’d love to.”

“Oh god, I honestly thought I was going to get rejected.” Ali laughs and flips Ashlyn’s board over, causing her to fall back into the ocean. Ali then quickly paddled away to shore.

“I’m so going to get you back!” Ashlyn shouted.

“Sure, but let’s see if you can actually catch up with me,” Ali challenged.

Back at the shore, they were all already walking back to Tobin’s beach house so that they could wash up and go out for dinner at burger shack nearby. As they were walking back, Ashlyn pulled Tobin by the arm. Tobin looked at Ashlyn confused.

“You have that number ready dude? Time for you to change it,” Ashlyn said then winks at Tobin.

Tobin was confused at first and then she caught on with what happened. “No way.”

“Yes way.”


	5. Boyfriend Problem? Or Girlfriend?

It’s Friday night which means date night for Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger. Kelley, Hope and Christen helped Ashlyn dress up for her first date with her crush. Ashlyn? Well, she only has hopeless Tobin and Alex who came to visit them to help her get ready. Not like she needs any help though, since she thinks she is the fashionista within the group. Ashlyn had a plain white t-shirt on with black joggers and black Nike Dunks. To complete the look, she obviously had to use a snapback. Ali, though had the help of the girls, make sure that she wasn’t too over dressed for the date. She was told to dress casually as Ashlyn had planned to do activities rather than just sit at dinner. Not her kind of date probably, Ali thought to herself.

“How do I look?” Ali asked her friends, looking at herself in the mirror.

“Perfect.”

Ali had a black denim jeans on, a Stussy muscle tank and just simple white shoes. She make sure that her mascara was on just right, that was the only thing that was going to boost her confidence anyways.

“I kind of feel like I’m too casual? I should change,” Ali says as she shuffled her way to her room again before Hope stops her. “You look fine Ali.”

“I’m so excited for your date! It’s been months. She finally asked you out,” Christen said in a high pitched tone.

“Looks like we don’t have to wait till she’s 30,” Kelley joked.

“Huh?”

Christen and Kelley looks at each other and laughs at their own inside joke. “Nothing.”

The four of them chatted in the living room for the next 20 minutes before they hear a knock on their dorm room’s door. As soon as they hear the knock, all four of them looked at each other and shrieked. “Should I open the door?”

“No! You stay put. I’ll open it and you know, tease her a bit,” Kelley said as she walks towards the door to open it. “Wassup stud.”

“Oh wow. You’re the last person I wanted to see right now,” Ashlyn teased.

Kelley raises her eyebrows. “Well, you better be nice or I’m not letting you meet your date.” Ashlyn smiles and shakes her head.

Ali then appears from behind Kelley, leaving Ashlyn’s jaw hanging. “Hey Ash.”

Ashlyn could not say anything at all. Ali was dressed up so casually but it still leaves Ashlyn completely speechless. Since she can’t get any words out, she just waves. Pathetic, I know. But that’s the only thing she could do at this point of time.

“Okay have fun my little ones. Don’t come back until you kiss each other okay,” Kelley said as she pushed Ali towards Ashlyn, a little too hard, causing Ali to crash into Ashlyn. Kelley then closes the door behind her.

“You look great,” Ashlyn finally said. “Really great.”

Ali laughs at Ashlyn’s confession. “Ready to go?”

Back at Tobin’s beach house, she was finally catching up with her bestest friend ever, Alex. They’ve been really close friends since pre-school and were rarely apart. They’re practically sisters. When Alex’s family moved to Orlando, Tobin’s heart shattered. She was so afraid that they wouldn’t be the same. But their friendship was too strong for anything to get in the way. They talked every day, be it texting, calling, skyping, as long as they could talk, that was fine. The last time they met, Tobin visited her in Orlando. So now it was Alex’s turn to visit Tobin in California.

“So who’s this Christen girl Kelley was talking about in the chat?” Alex asked as she sits back into the couch next to Tobin.

“Oh just some girl who works in a bookstore.”

Alex eyes widens and she turns to face Tobin. “Book store girl?! You sent book store girl home?!”

“Book store girl?” Tobin whispers to herself, wondering why Alex was asking like as if she knew who it was. Then she remembers how she used to talk about ‘book store girl’ to Alex, every once in a while. “Shit.”

“So Christen is book store girl? You finally made a move?” Alex asked, pressuring Tobin for answers.

“It’s not really like that, I just-“

“Oh my god Tobin! You didn’t tell me?! She’s been your crush since forever and you finally made a move! I’m so happy for you,” Alex interrupted.

Tobin slaps her forehead before looking at Alex. “I didn’t make any move. Kelley just left her hanging and it was late. So I thought I could just drop her off. Campus is pretty far anyways.” Then she leans nearer to Alex, “And I don’t have a crush on her.”

Alex leans in closer, “Oh please. You talk about her so much before you actually got to know her. You obviously have a crush on her. Even if it’s a small one.”

Tobin pulls away and turns her focus to the movie they were watching. They watched the movie in silence before Tobin whispered, “I’m not ready for any love shit right now. So it really would be easier if I just said I don’t have a small crush on her. Cause we all know once we start crushing on someone or falling for someone, it can just fall apart in a blink of an eye. And really, I don’t need another heartbreak.”

“It’s just a crush, Tobin. You don’t have to think too much about it. If you do fall for her then see how it goes? At least you’re not forcing your feelings,” Alex said, emphasizing on the word forcing.

Tobin nods as she remembers the motto or quote she lived by about how she would let herself fall for someone naturally and not because she had to. 

Kelley, Hope and Christen on the other hand, was also watching a movie called ‘Imagine Me and You’. Kelley and Hope cuddled on the sofa while Christen sat in her own single-seat sofa, munching on her popcorn. Christen glances over at the couple occasionally and feels lonelier every time she sees them being in love. As much as she was strict in following her ‘No relationships’ rule, she missed having someone by her side at times, helping her deal with her problems, entertaining her non-stop bickering about soccer or studies. Watching the romance movie didn’t help either. She sighs in frustration at her own thoughts. Hope catches this and decides to ask Christen a question.

“Hey Christen, when was the last time you were in a relationship?”

Christen looks back at the couple who were both waiting patiently for an answer, though Kelley already knows. “Like 7 months back? That relationship only lasted 4 months though. Why?”

“Do you miss being in one?”

“Sometimes. But I have a strict rule to follow, plus I’m kind of tired of guys at the moment.”

“So why not try dating a girl?” Kelley asked. Christen thought she was teasing, but the look on Kelley’s face told her otherwise.

“I’m straight, Kelley. Remember?”

“You don’t have to exactly label yourself. I mean, okay, have you ever feel attracted to a girl before?” the oldest of the three asked.

Christen doesn’t even need to think much. Tobin Heath automatically lingers in her mind. Christen was in denial though, so she shakes her head.

“You’re obviously lying, Chris. I know you too well. So who’s the girl?” Kelley asked.

“It’s Tobin isn’t it?”

The accuracy of both Hope’s and Kelley’s answers annoyed her. She grunts to herself before getting off the couch and locks herself in her own room. Hope and Kelley looks at each other and laughs. “It’s obviously Tobin.”

 

2 weeks passed and so much has happened. Hope went back home, but this time with a new status to herself. Kelley had finally asked Hope to be her girlfriend and make their relationship official. Ali and Ashlyn on the other hand did not go on a day, since their first date, without talking to each other. They meet each other often as well. They still haven’t had their first kiss though, since Ashlyn wanted it to be ‘special’. Alex too had gone home to her boyfriend. Christen and Tobin? They practically tried to avoid each other as much as they can, stupidly following both their rules of not dating anyone. Tobin still looks for her across the street though and Christen does too, without her realising. They smile and wave at each other whenever they catch each other’s eyes, but that was it.

 

After closing the shop with Kelley, Tobin and Kelley bid goodbye and went on their separate ways with Kelley heading back to campus and Tobin to the beach nearby. Tobin would drop Kelley off, but she wanted to wander in her own thoughts and walk by the sandy beach on her own. Kelley drove today too, so it was fine. Tobin kept her stuff in her car first. She took off her sweater, only using a Nike muscle tank and change her shoes to flip flops instead before heading towards the beach. It was a bit chilly that night, but Tobin enjoyed it.

Walking on the shoreline with her hands in her pocket, deep in her thoughts, she suddenly remembers her last relationship with Shirley. All the movie nights, typical Saturday lunch dates, the endless hugs, where did it all go wrong? Just then she receives a phone call. She looks at the number and she knew who it was. Shirley was still trying to get her back and honestly, Tobin has no idea why she’s so persistent. Tobin ignored her for a year after the break up yet she still calls her every day. There were times when Tobin missed her, like that night, but Tobin knew she deserved better.

She sighs and kicks a pebble nearby and as she follows the direction of the pebble, she sees a girl sitting on a huge rock set by the shoreline. She smiles when she realises who it is. She walks towards her then pauses for a second, thinking whether she should or not. She ignores her overthinking thoughts and went ahead.

“Hey stranger,” Tobin said as she approached the girl from behind.

She turned and smiled instantly the moment she sees who it was. “Hi there. No Uber driver duty tonight?”

“You crack me all the time, you know that Christen,” Tobin chuckled as she took a seat beside Christen, ensuring that there were a couple of inches between them. “So what are you doing here alone?”

“Probably the same thing as you. Just walking and thinking. Except that I’m sitting of course. Lots of things going on in my mind at the moment. Plus it isn’t far from work.”

“Boyfriend problem?” Tobin asked as she looked down to her hands.

Christen turns to Tobin and smiles, “I’m single. For the last 8 months.”

Tobin nods and laughs, looking back to Christen.

“How about you? Boyfriend problem? Or girlfriend?” Christen voice faded as she blurted out the last word.

“I’m single too. For over a year actually,” Tobin said. She then squints her eyes realising how long it has been. “Wow that is actually a really long time.”

Christen laughs and questions about what happened. She then realises that maybe it was too personal, considering that they’re not that close. “Sorry, you don’t have to answer it.”

Tobin smiles and confessed easily, “She cheated on me.”

“She….” The word wanders through Christen’s mind. She cleared her throat and asked, “Do you want to tell me about it?”

“There’s really nothing much to say. I was on vacation, came home and caught her making out with another girl. In my home, on my couch. I had to burn my whole house down after that,” Tobin said, adding a joke into it so that it wouldn’t sound like she’s still sad about it. “And you?”

“That sounds like fun. Getting cheated on,” Christen said sarcastically. “He tried to force me into having sex. I mean sex is a normal thing that happens in relationships I guess, but I wasn’t ready and he just forced me into it. There was no way I was going to stick around.”

“Well, getting forced into sex sounds like a lot fun too,” Tobin teased. “But on a serious note though, I’m glad you left. You definitely don’t deserve to be treated that way. No girl ever deserves to be treated that way actually. My sister almost got raped once by her ex-boyfriend and I got home on time to find out what was going on. I hit him hard and he punched me back, breaking my nose. Then he flees away. Loser really,” Tobin laughed.

“You got hit by a guy? And he broke your nose?” Christen asked, concerned.

“Yeah but it was nothing. I’d do anything to protect my loved ones.”

Upon hearing those words, Christen gaze at Tobin, thinking about how admirable Tobin is both looks and personality wise. She broke into laughter when Tobin asked if she was staring at her nose. Christen smiles and turns to face the ocean once again. Tobin glances over at her and for some reason, the way she smiles makes Tobin feel warm. The way her eyes crinkled, the way her lips curled up. As she was admiring that view of hers, a gush of wind blows and the sand got into Christen’s eyes.

“Crap!” Christen said as she rubs her eyes.

“Stop, you’re only making it worse. Here,” Tobin came closer to Christen, turning her face towards hers. She holds Christen’s jaw with her right hand gently. “Open your eyes.”

“I can’t, it really hurts.”

“Well, you’ll have to do it if you want it to get out. Don’t worry, just open it,” Tobin comforted her.

Christen do as told and Tobin blows into her eyes to get rid of the sand that got in. “Better?” Christen nods and her eyes caught Tobin’s. Their faces were only an inch apart, any movement even the slightest one, could just cause their lips to press against each other. Tobin looked into Christen’s gorgeous green-ish hazel eyes, adoring it. It was her first time getting a real close look of Christen’s eyes and it was beautiful. Christen clears her throat and looks down, causing Tobin to quickly pull away. Tobin wanted to apologize but she was afraid that it would’ve made things more awkward between them.

As much as Tobin didn’t want to apologize, because obviously she wasn’t sorry for what happened, she felt that it was the right thing to do. “I’m s-“

“I should get going. It’s late and I have classes tomorrow,” Christen interrupted.

“Oh, oh yeah it’s getting late. You need a ride back to campus?”

“Erm, no thanks. Kelley’s coming back to pick me up, so I’ll just go with her. Thanks anyways,” Christen said, rushing her words. She then waved goodbye and ran towards Kelley’s car.

Christen got into the passenger seat and threw her bag to the back seat. She buckled up and looks over to Kelley who was staring right at her. “That was cute.”

“What?”

“You know what I’m talking about. The two of you got close pretty fast.” Kelley nudged.

“I didn’t- wait, how long have you been here? Did you saw everything that happened?” Christen questioned.

“Long enough to witness everything I needed to see. If I knew you were with Tobin, I would have just told her to send you back to campus,” Kelley giggled.

“She was just helping me get rid of the stupid sand that got into my eyes. Nothing happened,” Christen said. Kelley furrowed her eyebrows. “Nothing. Happened,” Christen emphasized.

“Fine, fine. Whatever you say.”

Christen looks out her window as Kelley drives. She then peep to the side mirror and sees that Tobin stood there till the car drove away. She sighs as she looks at her. “So how are you and Hope?”

The next few days at school, Christen could not focus on her books, exams, whatever that was coming at her. All she could think about was whatever that has happened between her and a certain person named, Tobin Heath. The first time Tobin sent her back to campus, their silly waves to each other and the night at the beach. They didn’t really spend much time together and that was what frustrated Christen. How is it possible that all she can think about is a girl who she only met probably twice? The thing that frustrates her most is that she was thinking about a girl. A girl. Last time she checked, she was straight. So why is she thinking of a girl? But she was not entirely upset about the fact that she’s thinking about Tobin. The few moments they had with each other made her smile to herself instantly every time she thinks about it.

Tobin too didn’t have it easy either. She couldn’t get Christen off her mind. At least for Tobin, she finally accepted that she does have a crush on Christen. But she was afraid of falling deeper for her, especially since Christen is straight. Falling for anyone was bad, but falling for a straight girl? So much worst.

_**Tobin:** What do I do Al? this is frustrating_

_**Alex:** Tobin, I get that you don’t want to get into any relationship at the moment. But if she never left your mind and you cant stop thinking about her, then go after her. She’s probably worth it_

_**Tobin:** But she’s straight_

_**Alex:** Whether she’s straight, gay, whatever, it doesn’t matter. If you really like her, go for it_

Tobin throws herself on her bed and covers her face with a pillow, thinking about what Alex said. She knew her best friend was right and sometimes she hates her for always being right. Just as she was falling asleep, her phone rings. Tobin let it ring for a few seconds before picking it up, not looking at whoever that was. “Hello?”

“Tobin! Dude. We kissed,” Ashlyn said over the phone, almost shouting.

“Who’s we?”

“Me and Ali of course. Don’t be dumb,” Ashlyn said.

“That’s great Ash. Did you made the move? Of course it was you,” Tobin said lazily.

Tobin listened to Ashlyn talked all night about her first kiss with Ali, most of the time repeating the story over and over again. Tobin did not say much, but she was really happy for Ashlyn and Ali. They had a crush on each other since forever and finally, their relationship isn’t just them saying ‘hi’ and ‘bye’s to each other.

“They’re having a party over at the campus tomorrow night and outsiders are invited. Ali invited us, wanna come?” Ashlyn asked and Tobin agreed to it before hanging up the phone, falling asleep.

The next afternoon, Tobin made an effort to look and smell extra good since she was probably going to see Christen at the party. She wore a black ripped jeans, a plain white v neck t-shirt and an unbuttoned green flannel over it. She finishes the look with a clean all-white vans. She then sprayed herself with Victoria Secret Pure Seduction perfume and tidies her hair up. She checks herself out in the mirror and smiles to herself in satisfaction. Her phone rings, distracting herself from the mirror. “Are you on your way?”

“Yeah, don’t tell me you’re still home,” Ashlyn threatened.

“Don’t worry, I’m on the road. I’ll meet you up front the campus. See you,” Tobin laughs and hangs up, before grabbing her car keys.

Tobin met up with Ashlyn and Kelley in front of the campus before walking to the party together. Tobin has literally walked only 5 steps and eyes of both male and females were all over her. She even got a few whistles from males, not that Tobin cared at all. Ashlyn and Kelley noticed this and started teasing her about it.

“I really hate to admit this Tobs, but you look hella fine tonight. Trying to impress someone?” Kelley teased.

Ashlyn swings her left arm over Tobin’s shoulder, “Maybe someone by the name of Christen Press?”

“Who’s that?” Tobin teased.

“Oh you know the hottest and smartest girl in Stanford, the girl that everyone’s going crazy over. Including you,” Kelley smirks.

Tobin laughs and shakes her head.

“Really dude, you should ask her out or something,” Ashlyn tried to convince her.

“I told you, I’m not going after anyone. I’ll just le-”

“Yeah, yeah you’ll just let it happen. We get it.”

Walking into the Sports Hall, where the party is at, they were greeted by Ali. Ali gave Kelley and Tobin a quick hug before diverting all her attention to Ashlyn. She interlocked her fingers with Ashlyn’s before giving her a peck on the lips. “That’s all?” Ali laughs and kisses Ashlyn, ensuring it lasts longer than before.

“Get a room,” Tobin whispered to them.

“I’d love to,” Ashlyn smirked, pulling Ali closer.

Tobin and Kelley then heads over to drinks booth to quench their thirst. Kelley would have normally flirt around, getting phone numbers, just for the fun of it. But ever since her latest attachment, she’s really not interested in flinging around anymore. She knows she’s already got the best. There’s no need for exploring anymore. Instead, she call girls over and over to introduce them to Tobin, hoping that Tobin would just agree to going out or hooking up with one of the girls. But Tobin’s already set for someone she sees on the dance floor. Christen was dancing with a couple of girlfriends and guy friends, which Tobin feels uncomfortable about, but it’s not like she could do anything anyways. Christen was wearing a long sleeve close-fitting black dress, length ending just above her knees. Her hair was straight and smooth, draping over her right shoulder. Tobin can’t help but admire that body of hers. Kelley follows where Tobin’s eyes is looking and smirks when she realise its Christen. Tobin looks nervously at Kelley who was smiling at her, then she chug a whole cup of fruit punch.

“Someone’s really thirsty,” Kelley teased, gaining an eye roll from Tobin.

After drinking too much, Tobin needed to use the bathroom. Christen was also no longer on the dance floor, so she hoped she could run into her as she looks for the bathroom. Passing through quiet hallways, Tobin hears crying and shouting of a female. “Please, stop! Help me someone!” Tobin had no idea who it was but still runs towards the voice anyways. She spots a girl being pinned against the wall, forced by a guy. The guy used all his strength to hold both girl’s hands using only one of his hands, while his other hand roamed around her body. Tobin suddenly recalls the rape incident her sister faced. Getting closer to the scene, she gets a clearer view of the victim. “Fuck.” She thought to herself.

 

It was Christen.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A longer chapter, as promised :) comment and let me know what you think of my fic so far! I've already had the next chapter written up so hopefully i'll have the time to update as soon as possible! thanks for reading guys, hope you enjoyed!


	6. I’m in trouble

Tobin sprints towards them and kicks the guy right in the guts when he turned to face her. The guy fell to the hard floor and was in extreme pain, but of course the kick wasn’t enough. Tobin punched him in the face once more. By this time, Christen had already ran away and a few people have gathered around them, including Ashlyn and Kelley. Ali ran after Christen who disappeared so quickly. The guy gathered all his strength and stood back up, swinging his hand across Tobin’s face, causing her lips to bleed. Tobin wasn’t that weak though, she still wanted to give him more and could definitely take a few more punches. But before she could throw a few more punches, Ashlyn and Kelley held her back while a few guys pinned the rapist back down.

“We got this,” one of the guys shouted.

Tobin broke free and ran towards the direction where Christen ran, wherever it was. As she was running towards the exit door, she ran into Ali, who came back with Christen in her arms.

 “What the hell happened?” Kelley asked Ben, one of the guys who held the rapist down.

“I didn’t do anything!” the rapist shouted.

“Shut up Nick! You think that girl would knock you right out if you didn’t do anything? Unlike you, she’s not a prick,” Kelley shouted.

“This jerk is Nick?!” Ashlyn shouted.

Christen cries hard while Ali held her tightly. Ali looks up to Tobin whose face was badly bruised and bleeding. Tobin went closer to Christen, careful of her touches. Tobin then strip off her flannel and signalled Ali to step back, which she did. Tobin placed her green flannel around Christen and adjusted it so that it wouldn’t fall off Christen’s shoulders. Before Tobin could take a step away from her, Christen held her wrist. “Can we get out of here?” Ali started turning around with Christen and Tobin, walking out of the exit when Christen stopped her. “Only Tobin.”

Tobin turns to Ali who nodded and smiles. Ali hugs Christen before leaving the two of them alone. Tobin then places her right hand onto Christen’s back, being considerate of how she touches her, leading her towards where she parked her car. She frees her hand when they were walking in the right direction and stuffed her hands in her pockets. As much as she would love to hug Christen, she knew she had to be careful of her every touch with Christen now, afraid that it might triggered Christen about the rape scene that almost happened. And to have Christen thinking about it, that was probably the last thing she wanted.

They got in the Mini Cooper and Tobin locked the car once they were inside. “Where do you want to go?”

“Anywhere, as long as it is far away from here.”

Tobin nodded and accelerated towards her home. She thought maybe they could take a walk by the beach, that’s the only place Tobin could think of. Plus, it was pretty far away so that counts. They drove in silence with Christen sobbing a couple of times. The temptation to just grab Christen’s hand to assure her that everything was fine was so high, but she knew she didn’t have the rights to do it.

“Are you not going to ask me if I’m okay?” Christen whispered, looking out the window.

“I don’t have to ask. You’re obviously not okay, it would be stupid to ask.”

Christen shifted her focus to Tobin. “Okay, then I’ll ask. Are you okay?” Christen noticed that Tobin’s white shirt was stained with blood, dripping from her lips.

Tobin snickered, “I’m fine. It’s just a busted lip, nothing serious.”

“Nothing serious? You’re bleeding,” Christen used her thumb to wipe off the blood trickling by the side of Tobin’s red lips.

Tobin held her hand, stopping her from doing so. Christen shot her a confused look. “I’m fine.”

Christen appreciated her and wondered how could someone possibly be so genuinely caring and sweet. She got hurt but she’s thinking of others first, putting herself last. She snapped out of her thoughts and pulls her hand away gently, folding her arms. “You got hurt and you’re only thinking of me. Thanks Tobin, I really appreciate it,” Christen whispered.

Instead of taking a stroll on the beach, they decided to just chill and hang out back at Tobin’s beach house. It was a chilly night and they were pretty tired from the party so they thought that was probably a wise idea. When they got to Tobin’s room, Christen stood at the door, scanning the room. She’s never seen a room with so little furniture, yet it looks complete. The room was painted bright red with wooden floors, consisting of a Queen sized bed, a dark coloured sofa, a tall cupboard and a slim 32 inch television being the main furniture. Pictures of Tobin, her family, her friends were all hanging around the wall. There was even a balcony, which Christen was so jealous about.

“It’s nothing much but it does the job,” Tobin scoffed.

Christen smiles as she watch Tobin pulling out a raglan long sleeve shirt and a grey sweatpants. “You can fit in them right?”

Christen raises her eyebrows, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tobin laughed and walks towards her. “Here, you can change into this. I’ll get a movie ready. I hope you’re not too picky.”

Christen nods and went into the bathroom to change. When she came out, Tobin was changed into a sleeveless Nike top and a similar sweatpants that she had given Christen to change into. Tobin was focused in setting up the movie that she didn’t realise Christen was done. Christen took this advantage to marvel at Tobin’s muscled arms.

“Oh you’re done. You can just make yourself comfortable on the bed, I’ll be in the bathroom,” Tobin said as she walks pass Christen, into the bathroom. When Tobin walks pass her, their arms brushed against each other and suddenly she feels warmth shoot through her whole body, getting goose bumps from it.

Christen got into the bed, sitting up, back against the bed frame and took out her phone. As expected, there were texts and calls from her friends and family members.

 **_Ali:_ ** _Hey you’re okay right? Are you with Tobin?_

 **_Kelley:_ ** _Where are you? Call me as soon as you see this_

 **_Nick:_ ** _I’m so sorry, I had no idea what I was thinking_

After that last text she received from Nick, Christen didn’t want to read through any of her other texts any more. She threw her phone across the room and turns to watch the movie. She gets distracted when she hears Tobin loud groans. Christen got up and walks towards the bathroom, curious about what’s going on. The door wasn’t closed so she could really just creep on Tobin without her knowing. Christen leans against the door frame, watching Tobin as she cleans up her bruises. She suddenly recalls the whole incident that happened and she felt lots of regrets. She regrets agreeing to meet up with Nick alone, regrets trusting him. Mostly because Tobin got hurt because of her and she knew all of this could have been avoided. As much as she was thankful for the surfer girl for saving her, she felt bad that she had to go through pain because of her.

Tobin sees Christen through the mirror reflection and turns to her, smiling. Christen gives a thin smile before walking towards Tobin. “You okay?” Tobin asked confused.

Christen ignored her question, sliding both her arms the back of Tobin’s neck and pulling her close. Christen felt nervous at first, but closes her eyes in relief when she feels a pair of warm arms wrapped around her waist. The feel of Tobin’s body so close to her soothed her more than what she was expecting and although she was the one who wanted to comfort Tobin, she feels to be the one comforted instead.

“I’m sorry for what happened earlier,” Tobin whispered, thinking that Christen was doing this for comfort.

“Don’t.”

Tobin then pulls away confused.

“Don’t get hurt again because of me,” Christen said as she brushes her fingers against Tobin’s lips, staring at it.

They remain in that position for a while, Tobin’s arms still around Christen’s waist and Christen’s hands clasped behind Tobin’s long neck, before Tobin realised that she was losing self-control to just smack her lips against Christen’s. Tobin broke the silence, “We should watch the movie. We probably missed a bit.”

Christen removes her hands away quickly, finally realising what she was doing and nods in agreement before dashing out the bathroom. She stood before the bed, recalling what just happened. She felt her stomach tighten and her hands getting sweaty. She bit her lip realising that she may actually have feelings for Tobin.

“You sure you okay? You’re really starting to worry me,” Tobin said stopping Christen from thinking deeper.

Christen nodded and lies down on Tobin’s bed, pulling the sheets onto herself. “Hey, I’m kinda tired so I’m just going to sleep okay.”

“Oh yeah, sure.”

Christen shuts her eyes tightly, trying hard to fall asleep before she gets deep into her thoughts.

The next morning, Christen woke up confused. She sits up, rubbing her eyes and pushing her hair away from her face wondering where she is. Then she remembers what happened the night before. She looks over to the other side of the bed and sees no one there. She scans the room and her eyes stopped at the sofa. Tobin was stretched out on it, fast asleep. “She didn’t sleep on the bed?” Christen thought to herself. As she stared at Tobin, she feels butterflies in her stomach and her mind going haywire. She pulls her knees up to her chest and thinks to herself, _yup she definitely have feelings for this girl._ She stretches for her phone and as expected, there were calls and messages from her friends and Nick. She opens her texts with Ali and types out a reply.

_**Christen:** Ali, I’m in trouble_

She sighs as she press sends and throws herself back down on the bed again. She turns over, her body facing Tobin.


	7. This Shouldn't Have Happened

“Nice shot Press!” Stanford’s Head Coach shouted as he claps his hands.

“Miss popular with the shot!” Christen’s teammates teased. Christen laughs and shakes her head, kicking a few balls towards her annoying teammates. “Okay guys, that’s enough.”

“Gather up!” The coach called them. They had a team debriefing and the coach announced having a friendly match next Friday before ending the whole briefing, releasing the players to enjoy the rest of their Saturday.

“Well, look got here on time,” Kelley said as she waved.

Christen and Ali turns to the direction she was waving at and had opposite reactions. Ali was delighted, Christen just wanted to get out of there the moment she saw who was there. Christen held Ali’s hand tightly in which alerted Ali to remember about what they talked about a few days ago. Soon, memories began rushing through Christen’s mind.

\----

_After a quick breakfast over at Tobin’s house, she decided to send Christen back to campus. They were loud in the car, singing, talking, shouting, gossiping, it’s like as if nothing between them happened the night before. Christen was thankful for Tobin for not being awkward about whatever that happened in the bathroom. When they got to campus, Tobin being the sweetheart that she is, walks Christen to her dorm. They walked pretty close to each other, their fingers hitting each other a couple of times._

_Christen unlocked the door and turns to face Tobin. “Thanks for everything, Tobin,” Christen said softly._

_Tobin grinned and nodded her head, before showing her perfect aligned white teeth. Christen leaned in, placing a quick kiss on Tobin’s cheeks. Tobin felt her cheeks glowing and are suddenly pink from the moment Christen press her lips against it. Christen smile faded when she realised what she had done._

_“I’m- I’m just gonna, yeah- bye Tobin,” Christen stuttered as she slams the door._

_Ali who was on the sofa, watching television, looked at Christen confused. “Why did you slam the door?”_

_Christen leans her head onto the door and slaps her forehead. “I told you I’m in trouble.”_

_“What?”_

_Christen then rushes over to Ali’s side, and looks around for Kelley. “Is she here?”_

_“Kelley? No, she went out for work. Why? And what trouble are you talking about? You look just fine.”_

_Christen lies down on the couch, placing her legs over Ali’s thighs and screams into the pillow. As much as Ali was dying to know what was going on, she waited patiently for Christen to say something._

_“I’m falling for her,” Christen said as she sat up._

_“Her?” Christen shot her a look. “Oh Tobin?! Oh my god, that’s so cute!”_

_“That is not cute, Ali. I’m straight as fuck, how the hell did this even happen?” Christen said, hiding her face._

_“You’re obviously not as straight as you thought you were,” Ali chuckled. “So that was the trouble you’re facing? You’re ridiculous, Press. Tobin is the sweetest person I know, I totally understand why you’d fall for her,” Ali said, patting Christen’s back._

_“I know,” Christen sighs. “I kissed her too. What is wrong with me!”_

_“You kissed?! Wow, loving the progression girl.”_

_Christen throws the pillow at Ali before confessing, “It was just the cheek. And I had no freaking idea why I even did that. All I know is that I’m falling for her. And I’m in big trouble, I’m going against my own rules. Also, I’m pretty sure I can’t face Tobin anymore after what I did. It’s so embarrassing.” She paused for a moment before shouting. “Don’t you dare tell Kelley about this! With that big mouth of hers, Tobin will find out in no time. And no, not Ashlyn either.”_

_“Forget about that stupid rule of yours, Chris. You better figure yourself out soon, that won’t be the last time you’re seeing Tobin. I promise you.”_

_“What if I move to Africa?!” Ali rolls her eyes and smack Christen hard with the pillow._

\----

Christen knew she would eventually have to face Tobin after the kiss incident, but she never thought it’d be so soon. There she was, sitting at the bleachers with Ashlyn, looking oh so fine, as Christen thought. Tobin saw that Christen was looking right at her, so she smiled and wave, trying to look composed as ever. Christen quickly picked up her duffle bag and ran towards the bathroom. “I have work today, see you later!”

Tobin and Ashlyn looked at each other after seeing how Christen ran away and Ashlyn burst into laughter. “I can’t dude! She’s too cute,” Ashlyn said in between her laughter. Tobin blushed, agreeing to everything Ashlyn just said.

“What are you two so happy about?” Kelley asked as she approached the two, alongside Ali.

“Did you not see what happen? Chris-“ Ashlyn interrupted by a slap to her arm. She stared at Tobin who just raised her eyebrows. “Nothing, Tobin was just being stupid.”

As much as Tobin would love to share about what happened with Kelley, she knew it wasn’t the right time. Kelley, as compared to Ashlyn, gets a little too excited about news like this. Tobin knows that Kelley would do her very best to put both her best friends together if she found out the kind of ‘friendship’ Tobin and Christen had and she didn’t want anyone to ruin it. Tobin enjoyed this ‘crush’ she’s having on Christen, it has really been a long time since she last fell for someone.

“You dorks are obviously lying to me,” Kelley paused. “But whatever, I’ll get it out of you guys anyways.”

“You saw what happened, didn’t you?” Ali chuckled, as she scoot over next to Ashlyn who wrap her arms around her.

“What? Ali knows and I don’t? Now something’s really fishy,” Kelley said as she wriggled her eyebrows. “But like I said, you’ll come around soon.”

Christen avoided Tobin at all costs for the rest of the week. Whenever Christen spots Tobin from across the street, she quickly hides away in the store room. Whenever Kelley and Ali asked if she wanted to join them for lunch with Ashlyn and Tobin, she would reject. She still felt embarrassed about what she did, something she knew shouldn’t have happened. Tobin on the other hand felt like it was the end of the world not being able to talk to Christen, literally. She would text or call her up, but she didn’t have her number and there was no way she’s going to ask any of her friends. She accepted that she had a big crush on Christen and that takes a lot of courage for her, so she was definitely not going to give up so easily.

Christen was tending to the cashier, checking whether the money tallies to what was accounted for. There were no customers so she and her colleague, Julie, just chilled and listened to the music they were playing from Spotify. Until she saw who was coming. Christen looked up, across the street and sees that Tobin was making her way to her store. Christen left the cashier and went back straight to the store room, not saying anything to Julie. When she hears the entrance doorbell rings, as the door swings opens, she shuts her eyes and bit her lip. Her heart was beating so fast.

“Hey, looking for anything?” Julie asked with a smile.

“Yeah, someone actually. By any chance is Christen here?”

“She just went into the store room. Give me a minute, I’ll go get her,” Julie said as she turned away.

Tobin nods and flipped through a book that was set on the counter. She looks up to the store room when she hears whispers and giggling. Just then, Julie came out grinning. “She’s, erm, busy right now.”

“Really?” Tobin said, doubting that’s the truth.

“You’re the surfer right? Who owns the Mini Cooper right there?” Julie said as she pointed to the blazing red Mini.

Tobin glances over to her ride and looks back to Julie. “That’s me. I’m Tobin, but erm you’ve seen me before?”

Julie chuckled, “I’ve heard and seen everything about you. Snap backs, flip flops, Mini Cooper. I know who you are.” Julie pointed out every main point of Tobin which made Tobin laughed.

“She’s avoiding you,” Julie whispered.

“I know.”

“She’s doing closing on her own today. And you know, today is a Saturday, closing ends really late tonight. Getting a cab will probably be the most difficult thing to do at such late hours. Plus after what happened at the party, I think it isn’t wise for a pretty girl like her to go home on her own,” Julie whispered and Tobin nods, understanding the hints she’s trying to give.

“I’ll come back later. Thanks a bunch,” Tobin winks and left the shop.

Christen placed her bag pack on the ground as she takes out the keys to the store from the front pocket. She locked the main door, tugging at it after, making sure it was locked. Then she pulled out a hair tie from her pocket and tied her hair into a messy ponytail, before walking away. She marched ahead on the pathway, scrolling through her Instagram feed. She glanced up from her phone then back to her phone, and suddenly she stops at her tracks. She looks up slowly and spots a ruby rose Mini Cooper parked just a few steps away from where she was. Suddenly, she got really nervous.

“It’s not safe for a lady to be on streets alone this late, you know.”

Christen felt a lump on her throat and her breathing felt heavy. She doesn’t need to turn to find out who it was. Her soft spoken voice, she knew exactly who it was. And the Mini Cooper really gave it away. Christen must have took some time, being deep in her thoughts, because that person caught up with her and stood right in front of her.

“I’ll drive you back to campus.”

“Christen? Are you okay?”

Christen snapped out of her thoughts and nodded vigorously. “You don’t have to, Tobin. It’s late, I’ll get a cab.”

“It’s late which is why I’m not having you go take a cab.”

“No, it’s fine. Really,” Christen said softly as she shuffled past Tobin. Tobin moved to block her way. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not.”

“Really? You’re not?”

“I’m not avoiding you.”

“Let’s recall back what happened this past week shall we. You ran off the other day when Ashlyn and I came by your practice to pick Kelley and Ali up, you don’t join us for lunch anymore, you practically ran away whenever I wave at you from ACROSS the street,” Tobin said. “Oh and you were ‘busy’ behind the store room today when your store was deserted. Busy with what? Ignoring me?”

“It’s the kiss isn’t it?” Tobin asked.

“It’s not!” Christen shouted, catching Tobin off guard. “I mean it is, but that’s not the only thing. Forget it.”

Christen tries to walk pass Tobin again but Tobin catches her by the wrist. “Look, if I did something wrong, I’m sorry. I never meant in any way to hurt you.”

Christen looks straight into Tobin’s puppy, hazel eyes and sighs. “You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s just, you’re making me feel things I’m not supposed to be feeling. And I don’t really want to be dealing with this at the moment,” Christen said as her voice trails off. To this, Tobin lets go of her grip and stuffs her hands into her jacket. The moment Tobin loses her grip, Christen can’t help but feel emptiness in her.

“Alright. Well take care on your way back then,” Tobin said softly, before turning away to walk to her own car.

Christen opens her mouth, feeling like she has to say something but nothing escapes. She closes her eyes tight, before turning around walking away the opposite direction.

Tobin sits in her car, not driving away until she’s sees that Christen has got herself a cab. After making sure that Christen was in the cab on her way back to campus, Tobin pulls out her phone and types out a text to Alex.

**_Tobin:_ ** _I think this is a mistake. I shouldn’t have fall for her, she’s straight for goodness sake_

**_Tobin:_ ** _now I feel like shit all over again_

Christen unlocked the door to her dorm and first thing she sees is Ashlyn and Ali all cuddled up on the sofa. She’s already feeling bitter about what happened earlier and now she opens her dorm to that. She rolls her eyes and staggers her way back to her room.

“Hey cutie, want to join us for some ‘Netflix and Chill’ session?” Ashlyn asked.

“Yeah, we’re about to start on Scandal,” Ali said.

“It’s fine.”

“You okay?” Ali asked, only to be rejected by a slam of Christen’s door.

“Wow, rude much,” Ashlyn chuckled. Ali gives an insincere smile, knowing that something was definitely wrong with her best friend.

 

Christen woke up the next morning, feeling blue as ever. She couldn’t sleep well, staying up all night thinking about whether what she did was right or not. Keeping Tobin close, confuses her but pushing her away makes her feel even worst. She didn’t like the feeling she got, either way.

Just as she was preparing her usual morning coffee she always had before classes, there was knock on the door. She shuffles her way to the door, humming to her favourite song and opens the door.

“Hi.”

“Tobin.”

Tobin smiled, barely, as she heard her name.

“Tobin, if you’re here because of what happened yest-“

“I’m actually here to pick Ashlyn up,” Tobin blurted out, cutting Christen off.

“Tobin! You’re early,” Ashlyn exclaimed as she put her hands on Tobin’s shoulders.

“I always am,” Tobin laughed. “Ready to go?”

“For sure, just let me get my bag and kiss my honeyboo goodbye first.”

“Disgusting,” Tobin hissed.

And just like that, Tobin and Christen was left alone again. Tobin never looked at Christen and this frustrated Christen so much.

“Tobin,” Christen whispered.

“Hey Ali!” Tobin waved, ignoring the green-eyed girl.

Christen groans and walks away from the door and Tobin.

“Okay let’s go! Bye Christen, bye Ali,” Ashlyn shouted as she walks out of the dorm.

“See you soon Ali,” Tobin said, following Ashlyn and closing the door behind her.

Christen felt her heart ache. She clears her throat and sips on her hot coffee. Ali sat on the stool across her and grabs the mug away from her. “What happened?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Christen whispered as she flip through the morning newspaper.

“I’m not stupid Christen. You barely acknowledged me or Ash last night, and Tobin not saying bye to you? Something’s wrong.”

Christen ignored her, flipping through the pages acting like she’s focused on the boring news on every page. Ali places her hands on Christen, stopping her from doing so. Christen shot her a look, only gaining a stare from Ali.

“I just don’t want to deal with this feelings, Ali.”

“That’s not really answering to my question though.”

“I told her off okay. I told her that she made me feel some sort of way I shouldn’t be feeling.”

“And?”

“And that I don’t want to deal with this.” Christen clenched her fist and bit her lip as she said those last few words.

“Have you considered giving her a chance?”

“Look, I got hurt before okay and I’m not putting myself through that again. Not right now at least.”

“Oh please, Christen. It’s been 8? 10 months? And Tobin isn’t a douchebag like your exes.”

Christen stood up and shouted, “But she’s a girl!”

“Who the fuck cares whether she’s a girl or not?! Why do you care so much about your sexuality?! You have feelings for her Christen, and really that’s something you’re going to have to deal with whether you want to or not,” Ali argued back.

“What’s going on?” Kelley came out of her room, questioning.

“Nothing!”

“I was actually asking just to be nice, I heard everything already,” Kelley scoffed, folding her arms.

“Fuck off,” Christen hissed.

Kelley walks over to Christen and pats her back. “It’s true though what Ali said. You can’t keep running away from your own feelings, Christen.”

Christen sighs and leans her head on the counter table. “This shouldn’t have happened.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update guys, i'll try to get the next chapter up by tomorrow or the next day! Hope you like it and go over and read my 2nd preath fic :) comment and let me know how you feel about this chapter! thanks!


	8. I've Missed You So Much

It’s been 3 months since the encounter between Tobin and Christen in the morning and the argument between Ali and Christen as well. Christen knew that she had to deal with the feelings she has for Tobin, but she didn’t know how. Christen went on a couple of dates with different guys from Stanford. Jocks, nerds, the gentlemen, all kind of guys and even the nicest guy she went out with couldn’t give her the feelings Tobin gave her. No matter who she went out with, the only person that stayed on her mind was Tobin. The last guy she went on a date with kissed her on the lips and she pulled away immediately, feeling like she cheated on Tobin. That was the last straw. Christen couldn’t bear any longer pretending like she enjoyed the dates she went on, when all she wished was to be with Tobin.

Tobin too gave her all to act like Christen was a total stranger to her. Whenever she sees her across the street, she turns away. Whenever she comes to pick Kelley up from the dorm, she prays hard that the one who opens the door wouldn’t be Christen. God does answer to her prayers, thankfully. But no matter how much she tried, she still finds herself thinking about the green-eyed brunette.

 

Tobin had a party on Friday evening over at her beach house and everyone invited was excited, except for Christen. Christen was a nervous wreck, feeling even more nervous than when she’s doing her exams. She thought twice about coming a few times, but Ali, Kelley, Ashlyn and Julie convinced her that she would be stupid to not go. She hasn’t spoken to Tobin since that morning and this could be her biggest chance. It was a miracle that Tobin invited her even.

 

Christen didn’t know that so many people would be over at Tobin’s party. She never knew that Tobin was super popular. There were more girls than guys though, as expected, Christen thought to herself. Throughout the party so far, the only time she and Tobin interacted was when Tobin gave her a quick hug when she arrived with the gang. And, yeah that’s about it. Every single time Christen gathered the courage to go talk to Tobin, some girl would be lingering around her. Hugging her, wrapping her arms around her waist, laughing, talking. Christen never had a jealousy problem but that’s done it for her. Christen dressed up for that party but it seemed like Tobin never paid any attention to her. Hair straight draping over her shoulders, mini denim shorts to show off her beautiful long legs and a muscle Stussy tank top. She couldn’t control herself any longer watching that same girl having her hands all over Tobin, so she walked out to the terrace and sat on the stairs, placing her feet on the soft sand of the beach.

Kelley spotted Christen sitting on her own out on the terrace and she looks over to Tobin. She rolls her eyes and marched over to her. “You invite her for the party and you’re not going to talk to her?”

Tobin who was laughing her butts off suddenly stops and follows the direction to where Kelley was pointing to.

“And you, Alex, really have to stop hanging around Tobin like this. That girl might just think you’re her girlfriend or something,” Kelley said, pulling Alex over to her.

“Who?” To which Kelley points over to Christen.

“Is that bookstore girl?” Alex asked Tobin.

Tobin nods, eyes still focused on Christen.

“Then what the hell are you doing? Go and talk to her you idiot.” Alex scolded.

Kelley pushed Tobin, signalling her to go.

Tobin played with the ends of her hair and fixed her favourite snapback she had on as she ambled her way to Christen. She felt her palms and fingers getting moist from all the sweating going on. She hasn’t talked to Christen for a long time and it was mostly her fault since she tried to give Christen the cold shoulder to help Christen and her ‘deal’ with their feelings.

“Hey Christen, may I join you?” Tobin asked, nervously.

“Do what you want, it’s your house.”

Tobin cleared her throat and sat down next to Christen, not leaving too much space between them. After months of not being with her, all she wanted was to be as close as possible to this girl she had feelings for.

“How are you?”

“Good. I don’t have to ask about you though. You’re clearly doing fine,” Christen responded with sarcasm.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Big party, great house, beautiful and super clingy girlfriend. Bet it’s the party of your life.”

Tobin smiled at the thought of Christen possibly being jealous.

“Yeah that would be the greatest thing ever; except she’s not my girlfriend,” Tobin scoffed.

Christen turned quick to face Tobin who was smiling widely. “She’s not?” Tobin laughed and shook her head. Christen then looked away, feeling embarrassed.

“She looks like she is though.”

“She’s my best friend. We don’t meet often since she’s not around here so whenever she comes visiting, she never leaves my side. Plus she’s engaged,” Tobin explained.

They stayed quiet for a moment before Christen asked, “Why did you invite me to your party? You don’t even say hi.”

“Cause I needed to see you.”

Christen was caught off guard by Tobin’s unhesitant answer.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.” Tobin apologized.

“No it’s fine,” Christen said softly as she looks down to her feet.

“Heard you’ve been on a few dates, that’s good right. I mean you haven’t been in a relationship for a while now, so err yeah that must be nice,” Tobin whispered, hoping that Christen didn’t hear much of what was said. Well, Christen heard and she cringed at the flashback of those dates she went on. She turned to Tobin whose face turned black.

“Would’ve been better if it was you though,” Christen confessed. Tobin was surprised by the words that left Christen’s mouth but she stayed silent, hoping to hear more.

“I went on all those stupid dates because I don’t want to deal with the feelings I have for you. I thought I was just confused, since I’m straight. But every single time those guys hug me, kiss me, touch me, all I thought about was-,” Christen paused.

“What?”

“You,” Christen whispered. She pulled her knees up to her chest and played with her long fingers.

“Those days, months, when you ignored me and we never spoke, it killed me every single time. I really didn’t want to deal with this feelings I have for you but not being around you-,” she turned to look Tobin in the eyes. “It just sucks. I just can’t get you off my mind. I’ve had the worst relationships the past few years. So when I realised how hard I was falling for you, it was scary.”

Tobin nods, assuring her that she understands her situation. “I’m glad you came around.” Tobin joked, earning a slap on the arm from Christen. “Ouch. Seriously though, I kind of accepted I had a small crush on you and when you told me you didn’t want to deal with me, it hurt me.”

“Only a small crush? Hmm I might have to consider my feelings once more,” Christen teased.

Tobin smiled end-to-end and confesses. “Okay a big crush. A really big fat crush.”

Christen laughs and shook her head, causing a few hair strands of hers to fall onto her face, covering it. Christen moved her hand to sweep her hair strands away from her face, but Tobin held her wrist instead. Tobin then used her free hand to push Christen’s hair strands away, tugging it behind her ear. When Christen finally got a clear view of Tobin that was hidden by her hair, she can’t help but smile. “What’s with you and wrists? You’re always grabbing my wrists for some reason.”

“Oh sorry,” Tobin blushed, pulling away quickly.

Christen smiles sweetly as when she noticed Tobin feeling flustered.

“They’re so cute,” Alex shrieked as she watch over them.

Kelley giggled at how excited Alex sounded. “I have high hopes for them.”

 

When they got back into the house, they acted like strangers thinking that it would save them from being made fun of from their friends. They had the same group of friends there but they try to stay away from each other, only stealing a few glances every few seconds. There were guys flirting with Christen and girls flirting with Tobin, but none of them could be bothered about it.

It was a long night for them since the party ended pretty late at about 3 am in the morning. Luckily for Tobin, Ashlyn and Alex stayed over her beach house and was able to help her clean the mess. They were really tired so they decided to just clean as fast as possible and crash at Tobin’s living room together. Ashlyn got a little too drunk so she wasn’t much of a help really. Once they were done, the trio gathered in the living room. Ashlyn throws herself on the couch, Alex took over the huge leather single couch and Tobin laid down on the soft carpet. They talked and bickered about the party before eventually falling asleep.

The next morning, Alex was the first to get up. She tried to wake the two sleepyheads up but to no avail, so she went to shower and prepare breakfast for herself. The next person who woke up was Tobin, 2 hours after Alex did. When she got up, she looked over the clock hanging on the wall and shot right up. “Shit Alex, why didn’t you wake us up?!”

Alex sips her warm ginger tea before looking up to Tobin. “I did, but neither of you moved. I even punched you in the arm. Bet you didn’t felt that.”

Tobin grunts before grabbing a pillow and slamming it onto Ashlyn’s face. “Get up Ash! We’re 3 hours late for work! Damn, we’re so screwed.”

“What time is it?” Ashlyn asked, still half asleep.

“Time for you to get up!”

“It’s 2 pm,” Alex shouted as she checked her phone.

“Shit.”

That was the fastest Tobin and Ashlyn got ready to go anywhere. Within 30 minutes from the moment they woke up, they were already on their way to work. Tobin drove and Ashlyn was in charge of the music. Instead of using her own phone, Ashlyn borrowed Tobin’s reasoning that Tobin had great taste in music. Tobin rolled her eyes when Ashlyn mentioned that, she knew Ashlyn just wanted to save her battery life. As Ashlyn was scrolling through the playlist, humming to the song that was currently playing, she accidently pulled down the notification tab. Her eyes widens and she can’t help but laugh. “Shirley’s still bothering you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have 2 texts from her.”

“Oh my god. What did she say?”

“The first text reads; _I still miss you everyday_ , with a sad emoji at the end of it.” Ashlyn pouted, mimicking the emoji.

“The second one?”

When Ashlyn opens the text, she scoffed and shook her head.

“What?”

“The second text reads; I’m going to find you,” Ashlyn showed the phone to Tobin. “Just block her number already.”

“I tried. She always find some way to get to me anyways so I just got lazy. Any other texts?”

Ashlyn shook her head. “Why? Expecting someone?”

“Kind of.”

The whole time at work, Tobin could only think of Christen. Now that they’ve both accepted and confessed their feelings for each other, all Tobin wants is to be around her all the time. She wanted more. She felt like she could do more with Christen now and she wouldn’t have to worry about how Christen feels. Tobin spent her time at work reminiscing all the time she spent with Christen and feels giddy at the thought of the possible relationship that may happen between them. She couldn’t resist any longer so she pulls out her phone and types a quick text to Christen, whose number she just got last night.

**_Tobin:_ ** _Is there any chance that I could see you tonight?_

It didn’t really take long for Christen to reply.

 

**_Christen:_ ** _first text from you ever and you’re already asking to meet me after we met last night?_

**_Tobin:_ ** _we barely hang out last night_

**_Christen:_ ** _I know… come by my dorm?_

**_Tobin:_ ** _definitely! See you_

“Ashlyn!” Tobin shouted and Ashlyn dashed out from the back room thinking something happened. “What?”

“Can I leave early today? Please?”

“Why? Where do you need to go?” Ashlyn said, folding her arms.

“It’s sort of an emergency,” Tobin smiles.

With a bit of convincing, Tobin easily escapes from having to do closing and off she goes to Stanford. She’s nervous but exhilarated at the same time about meeting Christen. She knows this meeting will be different from the others. This time, she doesn’t have to hold back all the feelings she has for Christen.

She knocks on the door and it didn’t take even 3 seconds for Christen to come out of the dorm, placing her index finger on her lips telling Tobin to be quiet. Christen then pulls Tobin by the hand, all the way down to the first floor. Once they got downstairs, Christen lets go of Tobin’s hand and laughs. Tobin, confused, just looks at her. “What?”

“Ali and Kelley’s back at the dorm. And they don’t know that I’m meeting you.”

“They’ll know you’re out though right?”

“They’ll find out I guess but I’m really tired and I don’t want to keep answering to them.”

Tobin shot her a concerned look. She stuffs her hands into her joggers. “If you’re tired, I can meet you some other time. I don’t want to keep you up. Let’s just do this some other time.” Tobin turned towards the stairs before Christen grabs her arm.

“Let’s walk.”

Tobin was unsure, she really didn’t want to tire Christen out. But she smiles when Christen squeezes her arm, assuring her its fine. “Okay.”

They walked around campus, Christen being the guide of the school for that night. She enthusiastically shared where she trains, where she studies, where she eats, and finally ending off with where she always go to when she needs to be alone. A park bench by the hill. They wandered around the school, not really knowing where they’re going. But it doesn’t matter since they were with each other.

“I feel like I’m a new student here or something with the way you’re introducing me to every part of your school,” Tobin teased.

“Every part of the school? Trust me, we’re only half done.” Christen scoffed as she ties her hair into a messy bun. “So is this our official first date?”

Tobin laughs and waves her finger around. “If this is your ideal first date then you’re really easy to impress.”

Christen sticks her tongue out and rolls her eyes hearing that silly joke Tobin made. Tobin grins at how adorable Christen looks when she makes those expressive faces. Though they were walking side by side, arms brushing and bumping against each other a few times, Christen felt like she was far away from Tobin. She slips her right hand in between the spaces of Tobin’s arm and torso, causing Tobin to blush at her sudden action. Christen looks over at a red-faced Tobin and giggled as she pulled Tobin closer to her.

“I’ve missed you so much,” Tobin whispered.

“What?”

“It’s been months and finally being able to be by your side right now, I just realised how much I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too,” Christen confesses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter was late! I wont be updating for another week or so, so i hope this makes up for it! I took some of your ideas and tweak the chapter a little bit. Hope you enjoy reading and let me know in the comments what you think about it! :)


	9. You Make Me So Nervous

It was a Friday night and it was also the first night that Tobin and Christen would be going on their first ‘official’ date. Unfortunately, Christen fell sick that morning so that means that they would have to postponed it. _That’s what Christen thought._

Christen stayed in her own room the whole day, staying away from Kelley and Ali since she didn’t want them to fall sick as well. Kelley and Ali thought that Christen was being extremely ridiculous not allowing them to come into the room but they know it was for their own good since it would be bad if the whole dorm was full of sick people. Christen stayed in bed, binge watching a Netflix series called ‘Orange Is the New Black’. She did that the whole day, it was possible that she could finish all 4 seasons within that day.

As she was on her 12th episode of season 3 of ‘Orange Is the New Black, she hears a knock on her room door. She ignores it at first but then a few more knocks follows. “I told you guys to stay away from me. I don’t want any of you sick,” Christen shouted.

Then the door opens slightly and it wasn’t who Christen thought it was. A girl with dirty blonde hair, ripped jeans and a black pullover stands there at the door, smiling at Christen. “You want me to stay away too?”

Christen grins as she looks at the girl. “What are you doing here Tobin?”

“Well, since I can’t bring you out for a ‘board game’ date, I figured I’d bring the board games to you,” Tobin said as she lifts up a few board games she had in her hands.

“But I’m not feeling well.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you,” Tobin laughs. “Can I come in?”

Of course Christen couldn’t reject her. She got up from her bed and went over to give Tobin a short hug before leading her to sit on the ground together. They sat on the ground just beside the bed and Tobin allowed Christen to choose the first game she wanted to play. Christen chose chess which Tobin was excited about since she was good at it. Unfortunately for her, Christen was a lot better in the game than her. Christen beat her a couple of times and every single time Tobin loses, she reasons that she’s giving Christen a chance as promised.

After the fourth time losing, Tobin gave up and sulked about it telling Christen how she was never going to play chess ever again and that Christen showed no mercy at all. Christen giggled throughout Tobin’s babbling and complaining about the game, thinking how adorable this surfer girl was when she loses.

“Are done laughing? For a sick person, you still have a lot of energy to be giggling away,” Tobin teased.

“I can’t help it. You’re such a sore loser,” Christen said sticking her tongue out.

“Yeah, whatever. Next time, I’m picking the game.”

Christen raises her eyebrows. “You know I’ll still beat you.”

“You probably would,” Tobin laughs. “How’s your fever? Better?”

Tobin then presses one of her hands against Christen’s forehead gently, feeling how warm Christen is so that she can gage how bad her fever was. Christen grins from ear to ear at Tobin’s touch.

“You’re still pretty warm,” Tobin said with a hint of worry in her tone.

Christen smiles and held Tobin’s hand that was on her forehead. She brings it down to her lap and interlaces their hands together. “I’ll be fine. I promise.”

Tobin nods and then she pulls her hand away to pack up the chess set into the box before setting it away. Once she was done, she turned back to look at the brunette. She moved a little closer to her and lays her elbow on the bed, leaning her head against her own palm. Christen too moves closer to the other girl, hugging her own knees up to her chest.

“Sorry I had to bail out on our date,” Christen apologised.

“Wait, this isn’t a date?” Tobin pokes.

“Is it?” Christen teased back.

Tobin laughs and shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll make up for it.”

“We better,” Christen laughs. “Thanks for coming all the way here.”

“Are you happy I came?”

“Very,” Christen instantly replied.

Tobin smiles and tucks Christen’s hair to the back of her ear, making her blush. Tobin observed the way Christen’s eyes moves and she sees that Christen’s eyes fall to her lips a couple of times.

“Can I do something?”

“What is it?” Christen asked.

“Something I’ve been wanting to do,” Tobin said as she leans in closer.

Christen got the hint and she pulls away slightly. “But I’m sick and I don’t want you to be affected as well.”

“We’ll be ill together then,” Tobin suggested sheepishly, causing Christen to smile. Tobin then held Christen’s jaw lightly, pulling and leaning closer to each other. When their lips are just centimetres away from each other, their eyes meets and Tobin could feel her cheeks burning.

“Hey Pressy!” Kelley shouted as she pushes the door open, causing Tobin and Christen to jump away from each other. Kelley eyes widens and bit her lip, trying to hold back her laughter. “I interrupted something didn’t I?”

“God Kelley, do you ever knock?” Christen scolded as she stood up and walk towards Kelley. Tobin glances over at the girl before smiling to herself.

“I’m sorry. I just wanted to check up on you since I’m such a nice roommate. Guess that was not necessary.”

“You’re back late. Where did you go?” Christen asked.

“I went to get some groceries because our fridge is empty. Who knew the store would be open at 1 am? And now, I’m going back to my own room to crash so you guys can continue with whatever that was going on. Goodnight Christen, goodnight Tobin,” Kelley smirks as she closes the door.

“She’s always barging into my room,” Christen said.

Tobin laughs as she stood up and tidies her clothes. “She’s right though, it’s late.” Tobin said as she looked at her watch.

“Plus, this girl should get some rest so she can recover quickly,” Tobin said patting Christen’s head before walking towards the door.

“You’re leaving already?” Christen asked as she followed Tobin.

“I have to. I want you to get some sleep, it’s not good for someone who’s sick to be up late at night.”

Christen pouts, making Tobin smile. “Get some sleep okay?”

Tobin waved goodbye before walking out of the room. Christen turns away and groans at the feeling of being alone again. All of a sudden, she feels a pair of soft lips pressed against her cheeks. She turns around in shock, only to meet Tobin’s hazel eyes. “Goodnight, Christen,” Tobin whispers before breaking into a smile. She then waved once more before closing the room’s door and disappearing.

Christen felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart was racing like mad. _‘Goodnight, Christen’_. The way Tobin kissed her cheeks, the way she whispered her name. She turned red like a tomato and could not stop smiling. Christen then jumps onto her bed and screams into her pillow, she couldn’t describe how she was feeling. Now all she wanted to do was to wipe off Tobin’s cheeky smile with her own lips.

The next morning, Christen woke up to a loud music playing outside of her living room. She groans in annoyance and walked lazily towards the door. She then peeks through the opening and finds Ali and Kelley doing some exercises. She looked at a clock hanging on the wall and it was only 7.30 am. “Are you guys crazy? It’s only 7.30!”

“Oh morning Chris! How are you feeling today?” Ali asked.

“I thought I was getting better but then the sight of you two doing whatever you guys are doing right now, I think I’m feeling even more sick.”

“Care to join us?”

“No thanks,” Christen giggled as Kelley did a funny pose. She then went back into her room, throwing herself on the bed as she stretches out to grab her phone. A text from Tobin, just what she needed.

**_Tobin:_ ** _good morning, Chris. How are you feeling today?_

**_Christen:_ ** _I’m better I guess. I think it’s got to do with you visiting last night_

**_Tobin:_ ** _hmm I should come more often then_

**_Christen:_ ** _I would love that :)_

Christen then got up from the bed, walking towards the door again. “Kelley, are you working today?”

“Yeah. I have a closing shift with Tobin and Ashlyn, why?” Kelley asked.

“Great. Thanks,” Christen said as she closes the door behind her.

 

Tobin and Ashlyn reported for work earlier than usual and Kelley on the other hand was late as always. But this time, it wasn’t her fault that she was late. She had two other girls tailing her to work.

“Tobin! Ashlyn! The queen has arrived,” Kelley shouted as she entered the store.

“Yeah, you sure are. Queen of being late,” Ashlyn hissed. Then she glances over Kelley’s shoulders and sees her girlfriend walking in as well. “Ali!”

“Hi Ash,” Ali laughs.

“Why won’t you ever greet me that way? Where’s Tobin anyways?”

“Because you’re Kelley and she’s Ali. Oh hey Christen, I didn’t see you there,” Ashlyn waved to her. “Tobin’s unpacking some new stocks that just arrived at the back.”

“Hi Ashlyn,” Christen said as she high-fived her.

Ali then walks over to her girlfriend, greeting her with a kiss on the lips and then a hug.

“What are you two doing here?” Ashlyn asked as she wraps her arms around Ali’s waist.

“Christen wanted to see Tobin,” Kelley smirks. “And your girlfriend doesn’t want to be alone back at the dorm.”

“I thought you were not well?”

“I’m a little bit better,” Christen said.

“Must’ve been the kiss,” Kelley chuckled causing Christen to nudge her.

“You already kissed?” Ali questioned. “That’s fast. Ashlyn never kissed me the first few months we dated.”

“Hey, I wanted it to be special,” Ashlyn explained.

“Oh my god, we didn’t kiss okay.”

“Yet,” Ashlyn teased.

“Hey Ash, there’s a- Christen, what are you doing here?” Tobin asked excitedly as she came out from the back room.

“Yeah hi Tobin,” Kelley and Ali hissed.

“Oh hi guys, sorry,” Tobin laughs before turning to Christen again and smiling.

“Hey Christen, why don’t you give Tobin a hand at the back? I heard there’s a lot of stocks that came in today,” Kelley suggested.

“No, it’s really-“

“Yeah Chris, I bet Tobin will need some help,” Ali said, cutting Tobin off.

“Sure, I’m an organised person. I guess I could help,” Christen said before walking to the back room.

Tobin then turned to her bunch of friends and sees them giggling and smirking away. Tobin knows they did this on purpose so she shakes it off and heads towards the back room as well.

“They kissed?” Ashlyn asked Kelley after making sure neither Tobin nor Christen was anywhere near them.

“I think so. I mean I walked in on them when they were like just an inch or two apart,” Kelley explained.

Ali’s jaw drops. “You walked in on them?! Again Kelley, what did we say about knocking first?”

“I’m sorry, it’s a habit,” Kelley apologised.

“Well, thanks to you Kelley, they probably felt awkward after that,” Ashlyn teased.

“I told you I’m sorry!”

Tobin walked to the back room, finding Christen already arranging the boxes into the different brands. Christen had a clipboard that stated the different stocks that came in and she was ticking off which ever that has already been arranged. She was so focused that she didn’t notice Tobin standing by the door. Tobin smiles to herself, admiring how pretty Christen looks when she’s focused. Tobin then walks towards her and pulls the clipboard away from her. “You know you don’t have to help right?”

“I want to,” Christen said as she attempts to take the clipboard again, but Tobin stretches it further.

“You’re not helping. You can watch me unpack them, but no helping,” Tobin said.

“Fine,” Christen finally agrees.

For the next 20 minutes, Christen sat herself on the desk just watching Tobin did her work and occasionally taking out her phone, checking on her social media. She got bored after a while so she decides to take a couple of pictures of Tobin while she was doing work. After a couple of pictures were taken, she would look at it and thought to herself about how good looking Tobin was and how could she have never noticed Tobin earlier.

“I’m done,” Tobin said turning to Christen who was looking at her phone. Curious, she walked over next to Christen and peeped at the phone. She breaks into a grin when she sees that Christen had took a couple of pictures of her secretly. She then sat down next to Christen and nudged her shoulders. Christen looked up to Tobin then back to her phone, giggling softly after she realises that Tobin had seen the pictures. “You’re not allowed to take pictures of me like that,” Tobin teased.

“You looked too attractive, you were asking for it,” Christen argued.

“Are those the only photos you have of me?”

“No,” Christen admits and laughs, feeling embarrassed.

“Let me see the others then.”

“No way, I’m not letting you see anything else,” Christen said as she held the phone firmly.

Tobin furrows her eyebrows and attempts to get the phone from Christen. She held Christen’s left arm firmly with her left hand as she stretches over to snatch the phone from Christen. Christen wouldn’t give in to it without a fight. So they pushed and pulled for a few seconds before stopping and laughing it off. The pushing and pulling did both of them a favour as now there were barely any space between the two, with Tobin having her right hand placed around Christen’s waist and Christen still holding Tobin’s right hand. They smiled realising how close they were.

_Now is the time._

Christen placed her hand to the side of Tobin’s neck as she leans in. Tobin leaned in as well, trying to calm herself down.

“Guys!” Kelley pushes the door open. Christen closes her eyes in frustration and Tobin just pulls away and turns to look at Kelley. “I interrupted something again, didn’t I?” Kelley added, feeling guilty.

She then stood there, expecting an answer but all she got was a glare from both Tobin and Christen. Feeling even guiltier, she smiled slightly and closes the door gently, leaving the two alone again.

“Wow,” Christen said softly.

Tobin laughs nervously as she crossed her arms.

“I’ll go see what Kelley wants,” Christen said as she marched towards the door.

Tobin stood up and follows her closely from behind. Just when Christen turned the door knob open, Tobin pushed it to close and swings Christen around, trapping her to the door. Christen looks at Tobin confused. Their eyes meet and they just stayed in that position for a moment before Tobin leaned in, looking at Christen’s lips and biting her own. Tobin gently placed her hands on either side of Christen’s waist, pulling her closer. Just as the longing become simple unbearable, Tobin pressed her lips against Christen. The warmth of Tobin’s lips pressed against Christen’s sent a current running through her body. She wrapped one of her arms around Tobin’s neck, holding it there to make sure the kiss lasts a little longer. They finally pulled away but maintained the close distance between each other. Christen felt her heart flutters as she looked into Tobin’s eyes.

“You make me so nervous,” Christen whispered.

Tobin laughs softly before placing a kiss on Christen’s forehead. “I hope you won’t run away again this time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Here's a new chapter. So much progression in this chapter, I hope you liked it ;) comment and let me know what you think about it! also, check out my other fics guys! enjoy!


	10. This Was Definitely Worth Waiting For

Friday evening and Stanford has a friendly match against a club from Australia which the head coach managed to arrange. They don’t often play friendlies but now and then, it’s good to have them so that the team and the coach is able to gage the team’s capabilities. The coach also uses this opportunity to play around with the player’s positions to identify what’s best for the player and the team.

Ashlyn and Tobin had an off day so they decided to come and support the two people who mattered a lot in their life. They don’t often get to see these girls play soccer as well so they were quite excited to catch the match.

“Thanks to you, we’re late,” Tobin scolds.

“Hey, we’re not late. They’re just starting to line up, calm down,” Ashlyn argues.

The two of them decided to sit in an area where they could get a clear view of the game but were being careful of their choice of seats as they wouldn’t want to distract Ali, Christen or Kelley in fact. Little did they know that the trio had amazing focus on the game and could care less about what’s going on outside the field when the ball was in play.

“Oh damn, my girlfriend looks so much hotter when she has the captain armband around her biceps,” Ashlyn says proudly.

“Maybe you should get her to use it in bed then,” Tobin smirks.

Ashlyn blushes at Tobin’s comment. “That was totally uncalled for. Now I’m really thinking about it.”

“You’re disgusting,” Tobin laughs, punching Ashlyn’s arm.

30 minutes into the game, a group of jocks suddenly walked in the bleachers and sat right in front of Tobin and Ashlyn. They were noisy and distracting. They made unnecessary comments about the Stanford team and sometimes it was too overboard.

“Hey assholes, why don’t you keep it down a little huh? Some of us here wants to enjoy the game and we definitely do not need your commentary,” Ashlyn hissed.

“Why don’t you mind your own business?” one of the jocks shouted back.

Ashlyn raises her eyebrows and turns to Tobin who was red from anger. They knew who that jock was. Too familiar in fact. It was Nick. The guy who laid his hands on Christen. And at that point of time when they realised it was Nick, Nick decided to add a little comment to Christen. “Hey Christen! Maybe if you let me in your bed once in a while you would actually score a goal!” Nick shouted, earning a few laughter from his group of friends. 

At this remark, Tobin was fired up. Ashlyn noticed this and told her to calm down. The last thing Christen wants to see is Tobin and Nick fighting again. Tobin clenched her fist in anger and bit her lip, resisting herself from hitting him or saying anything to him. Ashlyn suggested to move elsewhere but Tobin declined. If Nick had anything to say about Christen, she wants to hear it for herself just in case it gets a little out of hand and Nick needed a learning lesson.

The game ended with a score of 2-0, Christen scoring the first and Kelley scoring the second one. It was a good game for the team but definitely not an enjoyable one for Tobin. She had to bear those stupid comments made by Nick and his idiotic friends throughout the whole game. The only thing that kept her from leaving or doing anything to Nick was Christen.

After the game, Ashlyn and Tobin waited at the exit of the stadium, giving the girls some time to get cleaned up. Just as they were waiting, the jocks came walking out and waited outside as well. Tobin and Nick had a little stare down before Ashlyn pulled Tobin’s attention away from the jock. Thankfully, it didn’t take long for the girls to be done. Tobin grins at Christen as the brunette sends her a little smile of her own.

“Hey Pressi, you did well,” Nick says as she approached Christen.

“Thanks.”

“I’m free tonight. Do you maybe want to go and get some dinner or something?” Nick asks.

“Wow, after those malicious comments you made you still have the guts to ask me to dinner? I heard what you said,” Christen asks sarcastically.

“Oh come on, you know I was kidding,” Nick says as he took a step closer to the girl.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Christen took a step back.

“You miss me, admit it,” Nick smirks.

“Yeah and I bet you missed the time when you got beat up by a girl,” Tobin steps in.

Nick turns to Tobin and chuckles. “No wonder you looked familiar. How’s your lips, sweetheart?” Nick teased as she wipes Tobin’s wet lips. Tobin slaps his hand away hard and is even more pissed now that he touched her.

“Tobin, let’s just go okay,” Christen whispers as she held Tobin’s wrist.

“What the fuck, did you really just touch me?” Tobin scolded, getting closer to the jock.

“Tobin! Stop,” Ashlyn shouted.

“And what are you going to do about it?” Nick says as he stares her down.

“You want to find out?” Tobin challenges.

Christen then slips her hands into Tobin’s, holding it tightly. “He’s not worth it, let’s just go,” Christen whispers to Tobin’s ears as she kisses her lightly at the side of her neck to calm her down.

Tobin softens when she feels the other girl’s lips pressed against her neck. She nodded and stares at Nick once more before nudging his shoulder hard and walking off with Christen.

“Christen? Since when did you change teams? And with that chick?” Nick chuckles.

“At least that chick’s got your girl,” Kelley shouts as she throws him the middle finger.

Nick’s face turns red feeling embarrassed. And the fact that his group of friends were basically laughing at him didn’t make things any better.

Instead of getting into Tobin’s car, Kelley chose to ride with Ashlyn and Ali instead, knowing how heat up it may have been between Tobin and Christen especially after the incident with Nick. She knew how Tobin was when she gets angry and she didn’t want to be dealing with that. All she could hope for was that Tobin had calmed down by the time they got to the place where they all agreed to have dinner at.

Tobin got into her car first, slamming the door close while Christen placed her duffel bag at the backseat. She heard the loud slam and to be honest, she wish she wasn’t there as well. _This side of Tobin, she definitely have not seen before._ She quietly entered the car and buckled on her seatbelt. Tobin was unusually quiet. Tobin was normally calm but she was definitely not at the moment. Tobin didn’t want Christen to see how her nostrils flared and her piercing eyes from anger, so she adjusted her snapback so that the visor would have covered her face a little. She shifted the gear to drive and accelerated off.

Christen knew Tobin was trying to calm her nerves. The way she grabbed tightly onto the steering wheel, her heavy breathing and her weird sitting posture gave it all away. Also the fact that Tobin never once glanced over at Christen. Christen hesitated but placed her hand on Tobin’s shoulder. Christen smiles slightly as she feels Tobin relax to her touch. Tobin finally glances over before taking the hand into hers.

“Why did you stop me?” Tobin asks, breaking the silence.

“I told you I don’t want you getting hurt anymore.”

“Yeah well you should have heard the stuff he said about you. I would get hurt for you if it means I got to break his face,” Tobin says in frustration.

“And then when you get hurt, how do you think I’d feel?” Christen asks.

“I don’t know,” Tobin sighs. “He raped you. Wasn’t that enough? Why did he have to say such things about you?”

Christen suddenly remembers the horrible incident and she closes her eyes shut, preventing her tears from falling. “Let’s just not talk about it anymore. Please?”

Tobin realised that it was probably a mistake to have brought up the incident that happened months ago. She rubs her thumb gently to the back of Christen’s hand, offering some comfort and hoping to send a message across that she didn’t mean to bring up that incident.

“I don’t care what he has to say about me. I can handle it. But I won’t be able to handle you getting hurt again because of me okay?”

“Okay. Okay, I get it. I’m sorry,” Tobin apologises.

Instead of meeting up with Ali, Ashlyn and Kelley, they decided to bail on them and spend some time alone with each other. They drove down to the beach near to Tobin’s beach house, planning to take a stroll on the sand and just getting some ice cream from the ice cream truck nearby.

Taking off their flip flops, they took one step onto the sandy beach before Christen tugged onto Tobin’s tank top. Tobin turns to her confused.

“Let’s play a game,” Christen suggests.

“Seriously? We literally just got here,” Tobin laughs.

“3 rounds of rock paper scissors, the loser piggybacks the other,” Christen smirks.

“You’re just lazy to walk!”

“No I’m not!” Christen hisses back. “I’m tired actually.”

Tobin smiles to herself thinking how cute Christen looks when she’s pouting. “You can just ask for one, you know I’ll do anything for you.”

“I know, but it seems mean,” Christen says softly. “Let’s just walk, I’m fine. I was kidding.”

“No you wasn’t,” Tobin says before showing her back to Christen and bending her knees slightly. “Come on, get on me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yup.”

Christen giggled as she wrapped her arms around Tobin’s neck. All of a sudden Tobin jumps up, hugging Christen’s legs close to her body, causing the brunette to scream.

“You did that on purpose didn’t you?”

“Maybe,” Tobin laughs.

Tobin gave her a piggyback ride for a couple of minutes before she started to get tired. Her legs were getting weak and she was losing strength to last any longer. Christen noticed these as she feels herself slipping down even more. She laughs before jumping right off.

“Am I that heavy?”

“God if only you knew,” Tobin sighs in relief when Christen got off.

“Wow, thanks Tobin,” Christen hisses.

“I was kidding. I’m just not strong I guess,” Tobin sticks her tongue out.

Christen rolls her eyes before walking ahead. Tobin caught up with her and slings her right arm over Christen’s shoulder, pulling her closer. Christen does the same as well, slinging her left arm over Tobin’s shoulder. She then pulls Tobin in for a headlock and squeezes the grip tighter.

“Ouch! Christen!” Tobin shouts.

“Does that hurt?”

“Err duh captain obvious!”

“Tell me I’m heavy again and I’ll make sure you won’t be able to breathe, got it?” Christen teases.

Tobin nodded and pats Christen’s arm repeatedly, hoping she’ll let go. Christen eventually did, laughing away at how Tobin screamed.

“I’m so going to get you back, you know that right?” Tobin warns.

“Hey, you said I’m heavy. That’s an insult,” Christen scolds back.

“I’m still going to get you back,” Tobin smirks.

Christen smirks and quickens her walking pace. When she hears Tobin catching up, she attempts to run, only to fail miserably. Tobin had caught her by her hand and pulls her towards Tobin’s torso, turning her around as well. They were only an inch or two apart and could feel the warmth from their bodies radiating around each other. Tobin smiles as she pulls the other girl even closer, as if they weren’t close enough already. Christen interlaces their hands together and places their hands around her waist, locking Tobin’s hands there. Their eyes meet and has a conversation of their own before Tobin leans in, pressing her lips against Christen’s. The kiss was slow and gentle, just how Christen likes it. After breaking the kiss, Christen naturally slides her hands to the back of Tobin’s neck while Tobin’s hands remains around Christen’s waist. They stood there, appreciating each other’s embrace and taking in the night breeze.

_This was definitely worth waiting for._

They went back to Tobin’s beach house afterwards since it was getting late. After lots of convincing, Christen agreed to stay over for the night and just head back to her dorm the next day. She didn’t want Tobin to drive her back this late at night and plus, _she got to spend more time with the girl._

Tobin laid in her bed while Christen took a quick shower, something she always does before she goes to sleep. Tobin took this time to reply to the bunch of text messages she received from her friends.

**_Ashlyn:_ ** _thanks for ditching Tobin :)_

**_Kelley:_ ** _yeah thanks a BUNCH. I had to witness Ashlyn and Ali making out and stuff_

**_Tobin:_ ** _haha! sorry we kinda wanted some time alone. and Kelley, don’t complain. You were always making out with Hope around us when we were single and lonely_

**_Ashlyn:_ ** _some time alone? ;)_

**_Tobin:_ ** _omg not like that Ash_

**_Kelley:_ ** _get some Tobin ;)_

**_Tobin:_ ** _haha fuck off you two. anyways see you guys tomorrow dudessss_

**_Ashlyn:_ ** _you want some tobin, you know that. Alright see you!_

“What’s so funny?” Christen asks as she walks out of the bathroom.

“Kelley and Ashlyn just being themselves,” Tobin chuckles, setting her phone aside on the nightstand.

Christen climbs into the bed next to Tobin and places a pillow in between them.

“Stay on your side of the bed and I’ll stay in mine,” Christen teases.

“What if I don’t want to?”

“Then you’ll get another headlock from me,” Christen smirks.

Tobin throws her hands in the air. “Okay, I’ll definitely stay on my side then.” She then took one of the books she was currently reading from the nightstand and pick up from where she last stop. While she was reading, Christen played with her phone. When she ran out of things to do on her phone, she lied down and turned to face Tobin. She wonders how she got so lucky with this girl. She compared to how she felt before they even happened and right now, and she’s glad she didn’t ignore the strong feelings she had for this surfer girl. She grins to herself and these thoughts runs through her mind. When Tobin shifted her focus from the book to her, she smiles before quickly looking away causing Tobin to giggle.

“I love it when you do that,” Tobin says.

“Do what?”

“I love it when I catch you looking at me and then you smile and look away. It’s cute,” Tobin confesses. Tobin then set her book aside and switches of the reading light. She lied down on her side of the bed, hugging the sheets.

Christen then took the pillow in between the two and throws it aside. “I can’t see you with this stupid pillow blocking my view,” Christen whispers as she slowly closes her eyes.

Tobin’s lips curved slightly and she slides closer to the other girl. She then brushed Christen’s hair away from her face and plays with her hair gently. Christen smiles, pleased at the fact that Tobin had moved closer to her. She pulls Tobin’s shirt towards her, gesturing her to come closer. And she did. She throws her right arm over Tobin’s waist as she attempts to sleep. Tobin patted her to sleep like she would with a baby, and dozed off as she hears Christen’s steady breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is coming to an end REALLY SOON! Let me know how you like this chapter and comment a few suggestion on what else you want me to write for my next fic! :)


	11. Worst Nightmare

Every night by each other’s side was always the best moments for both Tobin and Christen. Being alone together, close to each other with no one bothering them was always what they looked forward to at the end of the day. But when things got serious one night for the first time, Tobin begins to realise that maybe she should stay in her boundaries.

Christen woke up and squints her eyes as the bright morning sun greeted her. She groans and rolls her body over to find the spot next to her empty and cold. It has definitely been a couple of hours that there was no one beside her, because it was unusually cold. Her heart aches as she stares at the empty space. Then she remembered what happened the night before.

\------------

_Christen pushes Tobin against her room door, pressing her body against Tobin’s. She leans in, catching the other girl’s lips. Tobin deepens the kiss, snaking her arms around Christen’s waist to pull her even closer. Christen bit Tobin’s plump lower lip and smirks before opening her room door and entering it, then slamming the door shut. Before she could even turn around, Tobin wraps her arms around the dark-haired girl’s waist, placing soft and gentle kisses to the back of her neck. Christen did her best to not give in easily but when she feels Tobin’s hands on her bare stomach, she loses it. Tobin then spins her around and pushes her back to the wall slightly. She walks slowly towards the tanned girl, until Christen pulled her in roughly. Tobin presses her lips against the other girl, slipping her tongue in. When it was getting too hot, Christen tugs on Tobin’s t-shirt._

_“Take it off,” Christen demands, biting Tobin’s ear playfully._

_“Your wish is my command,” Tobin smirks before raising her shirt over her shoulders, pulling it off. “Let’s take it to the bed.”_

_Christen nods and pushes Tobin onto the bed, settling her knees on either side of Tobin’s hips. “Only if you let me take control.”_

_Christen places her hand on Tobin’s rock hard abs, something Tobin is extremely proud of having. Especially now when she sees Christen literally drooling over it. Christen pushes her hair aside before she leans down, leaving soft kisses to the other girl’s neck. She interlaces her hands with both of Tobin’s, bringing it over her head and trapping it there._

_“You’re definitely not taking this control thing easy huh?”_

_“You wish.”_

_Christen continues to press her lips on Tobin’s neck, slowly lowering herself. From her neck, to her collarbone and to her chest. Tobin lets out a moan as she feels Christen’s breath against her skin. She uses all the strength she has to turn Christen over, so that now she’s on top._

_“My turn?” Tobin teases._

_Tobin kisses the other girl roughly and passionately, her tongue meeting Christen’s. Christen places her hands to the back of Tobin’s neck, pulling her even lower. Tobin’s hands wanders all over Christen’s body and as she got to the lower part of the shirt, she lifts it slightly allowing her hands to touch Christen’s bare skin. Tobin pulls away from the kiss, only to continue placing kisses around the other girl’s neck._

_Suddenly, Christen gets a flashback of the party. What happened with her and Nick in that dark corner, when Nick almost had her. She tries to get rid of those thoughts, but the more Tobin’s hands wanders around her body, the harder it gets. She wants this, with Tobin. She really does. But all she could think about was Nick and how she was groped._

_“Tobin,” Christen whispers. “Tobin, stop.”_

_Tears formed in her eyes and she felt like she couldn’t breathe. She tried her best to control it, but she couldn’t. She places her hand on Tobin’s jaw, lifting it up. Tobin immediately jumps off of her when she sees the wetness on her cheeks. Christen sat up sobbing, placing her face in her own palms. Tobin wondered what she did wrong, or was she going too far or maybe she just wasn’t good. But right now, all she cared about was Christen. Her pride and ego could wait for another day._

_Tobin grabs her white t shirt she had on before and quickly puts it back on, before kneeling in front of Christen. “Chris, are you okay?”_

_Christen cries even louder, not answering to the question. Tobin hesitated but place her hands on the other girl’s knees, looking up to her and waiting for a response._

_“I can’t do this,” Christen murmurs against her hands._

_Tobin slips her hands in between Christen’s fingers and brings it to her own face, then kisses the back of Christen’s hands. “It’s okay.”_

_“It’s not,” Christen sniffs. “I want this, I really do. But when you touch me, I can’t help but think of what happened with Nick.”_

_Surprised by Christen’s explanation, Tobin pulled her hands away and she wipes her sweaty palms on her jeans. Tobin was speechless and there were just too many thoughts running through her mind. She felt guilty, she felt bad and she felt like the worst person ever. She blamed herself for causing Christen to remember the scene that happened months ago._

_When Christen saw how stun Tobin was, she quickly lowers herself to the floor, sitting next to Tobin. “It’s not your fault. Please don’t blame yourself.”_

_“Let’s not focus on me. Are you okay?” Tobin asks._

_“Yes, I just don’t know what happened. Why the sudden flashback,” Christen sighs. “Can we just go to bed?”_

_Christen got changed into a comfortable sweatpants and a long sleeved shirt. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, she crawls into bed and waits for Tobin to come by her side. Tobin settles for a sweatshirt and a pair of soccer shorts. She took her time to walk from the bathroom to Christen’s room, thankful that both Kelley and Ali were already asleep so she doesn’t have to run into them. She leans against the doorframe as she watches Christen scrolling and tapping on her IPhone 6. Christen looks up and finds the other girl slightly smiling but definitely has a nervous look to it. She puts her phone on the nightstand and smiles._

_“What are you looking at?”_

_“You.”_

_“Stop looking and come here,” Christen says._

_And Tobin did as told. She gets in bed next to Christen and pulls the sheets over her shoulders. Within a few seconds, Christen is snuggling up to her with her head leaning on Tobin’s chest and her arm over Tobin’s waist. Tobin kisses her forehead and hugs her to sleep._

_At 4.30 am…._

_Christen starts sweating, groaning and mumbling in her sleep. At one point, she even started tearing up._

_“Tobin!” Christen screams as she sits up right away, woken from her nightmare._

_“Chris? Christen, what’s wrong?” Tobin questions worriedly as she sits up._

_Christen started bawling, her hands wandering around her own body checking as if she was touched before and she leaves her hands to the back of her neck in frustration._

_“Chris,” Tobin whispers as she held Christen’s wrist and hugs her from the back. “Did you have a nightmare?”_

_Without saying another word, Christen turns and hugs Tobin tightly. She decides to sit on Tobin’s lap, who has her legs in a criss-crossed position, wanting to be closer to her. Tobin wraps her arms around the other girl’s waist, rubbing her back gently hoping to calm her down from her sobbing._

_“Sorry I woke you up,” Christen apologises once her breathing had become steadier._

_“Hey, it’s okay,” Tobin assures her as she pulls away from the hug. Christen’s head hang low and their foreheads were almost touching. “Do you want to tell me what happen?”_

_“It was Nick. He was in my dream and he was touching me,” Christen starts to explain as she cries harder. “And I was shouting for help and no one came through. Then you appeared but you didn’t do anything. I shouted your name, but nothing.”_

_Those feelings were coming back. ‘I shouldn’t have done it’. These words kept repeating in Tobin’s head as she begins to regret even more about what happened between the two earlier that night. She blames herself for this. Christen was doing fine, she barely thought about that incident. And then Tobin decided to take their relationship to the next level, and this happens._

_Tobin brushes Christen’s hair back and wipes her sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. She held both Christen’s hand in hers. “Hey, that’s never going to happen again okay? I won’t let anyone touch you or hurt you.”_

_Christen nods and leans in for another hug. Tobin held her tightly, pressing her lips on the blades of Christen’s shoulders a couple of times._

_“I promise,” Tobin murmurs against Christen’s shoulders._

_Christen cuddles up much closer to her now and falls asleep quite easily. Must’ve been tired from all the crying. But it was the opposite for Tobin. The guilt was killing her. When she was sure that Christen was fast asleep, she slowly slides out of the bed._

\------------

Christen’s eyes searches for the clock hanging above the door. It was 7.30 am, where could Tobin possibly go to so early in the morning? Christen swings her legs to the side of her bed and plants her feet on the ground. Or so she thought.

“Ooofff,” Tobin spits.

“Oh my god, Tobin! I’m so sorry,” Christen apologises as she quickly lifts her feet.

“Is that your new way of waking me up? Stepping on my stomach? Because I’m hating it,” Tobin jokes as she places her hands on her stomach.

Christen smiles and drops to the floor next to Tobin. She combs through the tangles of Tobin’s hair with her fingers. “Why are you on the floor and not next to me?”

“I figured you wanted some space. And really I just couldn’t bring myself to touch you, at all,” Tobin explains as she sits up. “I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“What makes you think so?”

“You were fine until things started heating up between us. Then suddenly all these memories just came back to you. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“Wait, are you regretting whatever happened with us last night?” Christen asks.

Tobin nods and bit her lips nervously.

“You do know I wanted it as well right? It wasn’t just you?”

“I know, but the way I touched-“

“Stop. It’s not your fault. My mind just chose to play games with me last night and it got the worst of me,” Christen says, placing both her hands to the back of Tobin’s neck.

“Well, I’m not liking it. I hate to see you that way, Christen,” Tobin worries. “And I will do whatever I can for you to not get nightmares like that or to just forget that incident.”

“Tobin, I will always be scared of that happening again. There will be times when I will have those flashbacks again, we can’t ignore it,” Christen sighs. “But you make everything easier for me.”

“I won’t do it again. Not unless you’re entirely ready, even if you’re the one who initiated it. Okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Christen says as she leans in to meet Tobin’s lips.

As Christen showers, Tobin made herself busy by cooking some breakfast for herself, Christen, Ali and Kelley. Tobin also brewed some coffee, knowing how everyone in the dorm loves coffee in the morning.

“Someone was getting busy last night,” Ashlyn teases as she sits on a stool, placing her forearms on the counter.

“What-I didn’t know you’re here?”

“Yeah I came by in the middle of the night because Ali couldn’t sleep. So what went down last night?” Ashlyn asks, wriggling her eyebrows.

Tobin chuckles and shook her head. “Nothing.”

“Oh really? Tobin!” Ashlyn mimics Christen’s scream. “Tell me nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened, dude. You’re misunderstanding everything.”

“Why would she shout your name in the middle of the night then? I don’t believe you.”

“Not like it’s any of your business. But Christen had a nightmare.”

“Still not believing you.”

“Christen had a nightmare of Nick,” Tobin starts. “Yeah that asshole who tried to rape her. And I was there- forget it, I’m not getting into details.”

“She still thinks about that?” Ashlyn questions.

“Yeah dude, those kind of things don’t just go away so easily,” Tobin snorts.

“Shit, I’m sorry.”

“Its fine,” Tobin says as she hands Ashlyn a cup of coffee. “Something almost went down though, if that makes things better.”

“There it is. Now that’s my buddy,” Ashlyn says as she high fives the other girl. “But on a serious note, just take good care of her alright?”

“You got it.”

“Anyway, Ali and I are headed down to the beach later to catch some waves. And Hope is coming along to, she’s flying in today. You and Christen down?”

“Sure, sounds like fun,” Tobin agrees.

“What sounds like fun?” Christen asks as she sneaks up from the bathroom, swinging her arm around Tobin’s waist.

“Hey,” Tobin says softly as she kisses Christen on the cheek.

“Aww, I feel like I’m about to gag,” Ashlyn teases.

“Funny. Anyway, they’re going to surf later. You want to come along?”

“Yes!” Christen shrieks. “I’ve never surfed before. I’m so excited now.”

“Yeah, that’s my girl,” Ashlyn cheers and lifts her hand for a high five.

Tobin high fives her and raises her eyebrows. “Your girl?”

“I-I mean yours,” Ashlyn panics. “Totally yours.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's another chapter! Sorry for the super late update. Been really busy late but hope you enjoyed this chapter! Comment and let me know :)


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